I have encountered many people throughout my life. Some have looked similar to me others were very different. Some have been neighbors and other have been strangers from foreign lands. Some have been leaders, others have been followers. Some have been older, others younger, many of them in-betweeners. There have been mothers, fathers, Christians and atheists, agnostics, and just about everything else one could imagine.

When I have taken the time to get to know them, I mean deeply, like what motivates them, what I have discovered is that deep down, they all want to leave something behind, something to be remembered by – some reminder that they were here. Some have determined to leave legacies, others were building monuments (of sorts), and still others were still trying to figure out what they could leave behind, so they would not be forgotten. I think there is a moment in our lives when we realize that we will not live forever, and we want to be remembered when we are gone.

A few years ago, I was challenged by a leader to write my obituary. The purpose in that exercise was to take a hard look at how I would be remembered. One of the realities of that exercise was if we didn’t like what we wrote, that today – right now – was the time to change that. Spend more time with the ones you love, talk more, dream more, live more. Say things that will cause others to smile rather than frown. Do things that empower others to dream big dreams. Write things down that others will want to share. Take time each day to live out loud. Determine to write that note, sing that song, take that walk and do it with someone else. The best way to leave something behind is to live life with others and let them be your legacy. Create memories with them that are so big, so crazy, so much fun that when they share memories of you, the people they are talking to will wish they had known you too.

I have come to the conclusion that you do not need to do much to leave something behind. The reality, we all leave something behind, the real challenge is leave something that will have eternal impact in the life of one person. If we all try to do that, we will likely leave a footprint in that person’s life that will in turn leave a footprint in the life of another. Yep, we are always leaving something behind, So, what will you leave behind?