Leave Something Behind

I don’t want to seem morose, but I’ve been thinking a lot about how the world will be when I’m not here anymore. I am sure the world will go on without even taking notice of my demise – but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. What will I leave behind. Will I leave something behind that would not have been if I had not have been?

I see so many people saving money, accumulating wealth, saving for retirement or to leave money to their children and grandchildren. But is that all our lives are meant to be. Is that all we really want to leave behind.

Money was here before we were born, and it will certainly be around for a long time after we’re gone. So leaving money behind is not leaving something of ourselves behind. We didn’t really make it. I want to leave something behind that wasn’t here when on the day I was born; something that wouldn’t have been here if I had not been born.

I certainly have not lived a perfect life and I’m sure some will be glad to see me gone. That is how it is with many of us, I’m afraid. But one thing I know for sure: I’m leaving a lot of things behind that were not here the day I was born.

Anyone who, like me, has children, grandchildren, great grandchildren…leave behind something that would have never been here had we not been born. So if you have children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, you are leaving something behind.

But that’s not really enough. While your children are part of you and came from you, they don’t let others inside your head and your heart so they can know you even though you’ve passed away.

I have children and grandchildren and I love them all very much. I will leave them behind when I die. So the world has been changed because I was here.

Billions of people change the world by having children, but very few change the world by leaving a part of themselves behind.

I’ve written over 100 songs, dozens of poems, hundreds of essays and short stories. I’ve saved a lot of them and they’ll survive me. Someday, after I’ve passed away, my kids will read some of the things I’ve written and by doing so they will have a look inside my head. And maybe reading what I’ve written or listening to the songs I wrote will remind them of me and of the good things about me, or the silly things about me. Maybe they will see some of the things I’ve written as my successes and others failures. What I hope most of all is that what I’ve left behind reminds them to leave something of themselves behind that was not here before they were.

To me it’s important that we call change the world a little bit. If we don’t it will be as if we were never born. Even if we leave children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren behind. We need to leave a piece of ourselves behind for our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren and those who survive us can know us.

It doesn’t really take much to leave something of yourself behind. You don’t need to be a great writer or painter; you don’t need to be handy with your hands. You don’t even need to be creative.

You can write a letter and keep it hidden so someday someone will find it and know you better. Just write down you thoughts on a piece of paper – keep it safe and try to make sure no one sees it until you want them to see it. See? You don’t have to be creative to leave something of yourself behind and change the world, if only just a tiny bit.

If you’re good with your hands, make a quilt, or make some pottery or build something. Anything you leave behind changes the world just a tiny bit – but if all you leave behind is your money you’ve not changed the world at all.

Most of us do not thing our existence will change the world at all. Most of us who are not rich and powerful don’t think the world will even know we existed. We think we don’t have the power to change the world at all – but we do.

If you leave just one thing behind that you created, then you’ve changed the world. Maybe only a little bit, but you’ve changed it by adding something to it. And that makes a difference.

You can do a lot of other things do leave your mark on the world – to leave something behind that changes the world. Just think of all the things you could do to make the world a little different, a little better than it was before you.

You can start a tradition of giving, or you can paint, or you can write a book, an essay, a short story, or a poem. You can write a song, or make pottery or build something with your own hands. Or, you can just take time out to write a special letter about yourself and how you feels about things – something from your heart that will live on — things you accomplished, things you did, places you visited, your favorite memories. Share the dreams, both the ones that you made come true and the one’s that you didn’t.

If we all leave something behind, we all can change the world. What a shame it would be to leave the world without leaving a little bit, a little something, of ourselves behind.