What will they say after you have gone?
Writing your own obituary gives valuable insights
THERE’s an exercise life coaches use that asks people to think about the day they die and to prepare their own obituary.
It works well as a goal-setting and character-building tool, as you start with the end in mind and work your way towards it.
It would be a waste to have been here all this time and have done nothing of consequence for yourself, your family or the world.
What will people say and write about you when you are gone? Will you have been the person who invented Facebook, or the first person to have climbed Everest with a prosthetic leg, or the kindest soul people had the pleasure of knowing?
Or will you have been the person who conned people out of money, who people knew as a nag?
Most of us have been given about 80 years within which to create a meaningful life. We can create whatever we like — it is our choice.
If you chose to live a healthy life, you will experience the benefits as you grow old. People who stay fit and healthy tend to have a fuller life when they are older. They spend less time in the doctor’s surgery and more time with family and enjoying their retirement.
After all, we work hard so we can relax in our 60s. What would the point be if we spent our retirement being sick?
So, no matter what age you are now, start getting healthy and fit — your old self requires this of you. Get up, get active, eat well and take care of body and mind now. They will serve you well in the later stages of your life.
Consider the day when you will die. Consider all the people you will leave behind and think about how you would want each of them to reflect upon you and your life.
Write it down in your journal. You need to really feel those words coming to life. Don’t just write about your fantasy life — write the truth about what is possible for you from now until then. This must include qualities you value — perhaps humility, kindness, humour, being inspiring. After you get it all down, you need to find out how, if you are not already on this path, you are going to live by those words so when you die, people say these things about you.
This is your personal memo and nobody is going to check it. When you die, only you will know what you wrote. But wouldn’t it be so special if someone came across your journal after your passing and opened it to the page where you penned this memo and said: “Wow, how did he know we were going to say exactly this about him?”
In life you have only one person whose standards you need to measure your life by, and that is you. Today is a good day to think of how it will all end, and then begin living that life.
It’s a mere 80 years and in most cases even less, given our stressful lives — not much time at all. Stop doing the inconsequential and get busy living your purpose.
If you are living contrary to what you want your obituary to read, you are the only person who can change that. The faster you get on track with your purpose, the more alive you will feel. Everything you need is already inside you.
“Nothing comes from without. All things come from within.”— Neville Goddard ý Follow me on Twitter @KanchMoodliar. Moodliar is the Inyathelo 2011 winner for youth in philanthropy and a 2012 Mail & Guardian 200 Young South African. She is a motivational writer and speaker on topics of wellness and social consciousness.