Like millions of other people, I fell in love with the musical, Hamilton. I probably listen to it waaaayyy too much, but it makes the time pass so much faster when I’m driving so… Anyway, it has gotten me thinking about legacies.
In the musical, Hamilton is obsessed with his own legacy. He wants to leave something behind that will make people remember him years later. It drives him. I mean, who wouldn’t want people hundreds of years later praising your name?
It sounds amazing, right? To think that you can change the world, and then people will still be talking about you after you’re gone. It’s like a dream.
But what price do you have to pay to leave a legacy like that?
In the musical, Hamilton becomes so focused on leaving his legacy that he gives up time with his wife and children. It even almost ends up ruining his life.
I’ve always worried about what people think of me (which is a whole other issue), but I typically only care about what they think of me right now, not what they will think of me years from now. Lately, I have been thinking about the kind of legacy I want to leave.
I’m not going to lie, the idea of changing the world with some brilliant novel that people will continue reading years after I’m gone sounds incredible. But is it worth giving up the chance to have a family or risking ruining my relationships with my loved ones?
I’ve been reading the book, Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist and recently read the chapter entitled “Legacy.” The entire chapter stuck with me, but there was one line that really got my attention.
“‘The legacy I care most about is the one I’m creating with the people who know me best—my children, my husband, my best friends.’”
When I read that, it was like another slap in the face reminding me how important my relationships with my friends and family are. Granted, the children and the husband part do not apply to me, yet, but I’ve been guilty of blowing off the people I care about, because I was too busy trying to please everyone else.
I don’t want to be so consumed by what people are going to think of me years from now, after I’m gone that I miss all the amazing things going on around me right now.
That isn’t the legacy that I want to leave behind.