At the end of the day, what are we really known for? Our lives, our relationships, our careers, our legacy? It may be that we discover some radical cure for a disease; that we champion some cause; that we help lead troops into battle; that we care for and nurture young minds as they grow towards adulthood. Or it may be as simple as toiling each day in the dirt, trying to produce a crop to feed others. Whatever our endeavors, I challenge you to think about the work of your hands. What do you do to help make a mark on your time around each turn of the planet? What is your mark?
I’ve chosen to let go of the mindset that I fear was part of my undoing. ‘You have to do this. You really should be doing that.’ What are we at the end of the day but ‘ants marching’ toward our own end? We live, we breathe, we work, we die. We are.
I’ve recently updated my profile on LinkedIn. It’s the only thing close to social media that I care to do these days. As I scrolled through the many posts and advertisements, I realized that there are so many powerful messages on its pages. But at the end of the day, what does it really matter? I want to know you for who you are, not what you do. Even if you are part of some philanthropic movement that radically changes our perspectives, I still want to know who you are. Did Einstein really have a sense of humor? Was Teddy Roosevelt the storyteller that I feel must have been part of his make-up? What powerful truth does the 8-year-old girl that I teach ukulele hold inside? Because we each hold vast sums of ourselves not in what we do, but in who we are.
My mark? Well, I hope that it will be less about the toil and more about the soil. What did I plant and nurture in the last chapters of my life? What will my kids remember? Will I choose to spend the time I have left here nurturing others and also edifying myself?
I started this writing with the hopes of telling everyone about this next adventure that I’m undertaking. But I’d rather sit back and listen. I want to know what you plan to leave behind. What will be the work of your soul?
It’s nothing radical, but it’s the heart that beats. The laughter shared. The tears cried over.
And the life we chose to live.
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, working with your hands, minding your own business.”
1 Thessalonians 4:11
~ Peace
Chad
Very nice. I hope my mark will be sharing kindness. It will not be a mark etched in stone. It may only be a mark in the wet sand...visible for only a moment in the span of time.
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