About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and horror, read his name in the obituary column. The news papers had reported the death of the wrong person by mistake. His first response was shock. Am I here or there? When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him. The obituary read, “Dynamite King Dies.” And also “He was the merchant of death.” This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words “merchant of death,” he asked himself a question, “Is this how I am going to be remembered?” He got in touch with his feelings and decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on, he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered today by the great Nobel Prize.
Just as Alfred Nobel got in touch with his feelings and redefined his values, we should step back and do the same.
What is your legacy?
How would you like to be remembered?
Will you be spoken well of?
Will you be remembered with love and respect?
Will you be missed?
#inspiring #life #enjoy
What no one tells you about. 
Great post! This is something I think about often. I have a post on my site that asks the same question: https://nostalgiadiaries.com/2016/12/06/leaving-a-legacy-how-will-you-be-remembered/
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Nice one!!!
I think on the same grounds.
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I’ll like to be remember as a story teller who through his writings (read poems, articles and stories) told many beautiful stories…
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Your post immediately brought me to Frank McCourt’s book Teacher Man. In it he describes a lesson he taught where he had the students write their own obituaries. This was a tough inner city school by his own description, and he saw this exercise as something to help shape them. I heard Frank read this live at The Warner Theater in Torrington, CT many years ago along side my grandmother who was a quiet fan of his.
About a month ago I started writing my own eulogy and obituary as a writing exercise but also because I was feeling down. My dad managed to write his own memorial service message and it inspired me as well. I think about how I want to be remembered and how I don’t want to be so busy living that I don’t make a life.
What is your legacy? Hopefully my writing, my memorial projects in my parent’s honor, and living on in the people I’ve helped that they would pay that forward.
How would you like to be remembered? I hope as a genuine person who encouraged other people and who was the same person in all arenas of my life. That i was a fighter, a survivor, a fierce and loyal friend. That if you knocked me down 8 times I got up 9. That I was able to stand when everyone would have understood if I collapsed. That I was fearless and stood up for myself.
Will you be spoken well of? That depends on who is speaking of me lol I have a few exes who won’t be able to help themselves but speak ill of me as they do now despite it being false.
Will you be remembered with love and respect? By many but not all (see the answer to the above question).
Will you be missed? Of that I have no doubt. by my husband most of all. Then my niece and nephew and my closest friends.
I’m going to share this post of your’s on my page with your permission. I like to ask just so its OK.
Peace,
Sharon
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Amazing words!! This inspired me too and yes, you can share it on your wall, as my motive is just to bring change in the way people think.
So, this is also a step towards my motive only.
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Thank you for the ok to share and the kind words. Blessings to you – Sharon
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Reblogged this on The Writer's Block and commented:
When I read this post from Incredible, I was delighted to find that someone else had articulated this idea of How do you want to be remembered? and How will you be remembered? Author Frank McCourt in his book Teacher Man used the writing lesson of his students drafting their own obituaries to help them see their lives in black and white. It was a way to bring into focus a tough group of kids who needed to see the bigger picture. It might sound morbid but I believe its a wonderful way to craft and envision how you want to live now and beyond your lifespan.
There’s a quote I like, and if you know the author please share: “If you wanted me to speak kindly of you, you should have treated me better”.
How we will be remembered depends a lot on what we gave people to remember us by. There is the factor that they will be untruthful about us, but that doesn’t change our truth.
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