1.23.2014

the question was asked...what would you leave behind?

“the greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively”  (Bob Marley)

one of  my first weeks of  school one of my students asked me if I could leave anything in this world what would it be...& as i stared at this young student i realized that she didn't want a B.S. answer; she really wanted to know what i would want to leave behind...so I thought for a moment...and then I responded with the best response i could think of...& my answer was this --...i want to leave this world a little bit better than when i came into it...

...now i am no mother teresa (try other side of the spectrum), most days i struggle just like everyone else; i know that i am probably not going to find a cure for cancer or some other life-threatening disease (even though that will be one of my biggest prayers); i am not going to be the next andy warhol, or the next whitney houston; or the next serena williams, or the next nicholas sparks, in fact when that moment comes and i am no longer; majority of people will not even recognize my name or remember what i did or who i was & that is totally ok; however i think that for me as long as i brought a little sunshine & a little positivity than i will have accomplished the goal of leaving this world a little better off than before...& maybe that is where most of my blogs come from; the last post i wrote was trying to put yourself in someone else's shoes before being quick to judge or killing someone with kindness instead joining in the negativity...maybe its the little things that allow for us to leave a mark of positivity...that allows for the world to be a different place than when we first came into it...

...so each day my goal...is to smile at the stranger who walks on by; to listen to a student who wants to tell me about their stressful life; to remember to say please and thank you not because i have to but because it goes a long way; to give a hug to someone who needs it; to make a phone call to a friend who i haven't talked to in awhile just to say hi; to say a prayer for someone (who i may not even know) who might at that very moment just need it; to take a deep breath, let go before losing my cool; to send a note of thanks or thinking of you because i can take five minutes; to laugh more often; to take time for me so as to allow time for others; to live in the moment of now rather than freaking out about the future, or regretting the past; to live in the positive because the negativity only takes up space (& nobody got time for that); to not take life so serious because in the end it isn't so much about the destination but rather how we got there; to never miss an opportunity, to hug or hold or say 'i love you'...so each day my goal is to live for the better of this that is all around us, so that the world, that my nieces, nephews, and hopefully one day my kids will be in, will be a little bit better not because i was anything important or moved mountains but because i lived for it to be better...

...one day a teenager asked you;...if you could leave anything to this world what would it be...and you responded???

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