Start by writing the end!

For my New Year resolution, I’m going to write my obituary.

I once took a class on self improvement, which reminded the group: that if you don’t know where you want to go, or how you want to end up, you could waste a lot of time going in circles, or being very lost for a long time, or even end up in a completely wrong place. The journey of a thousand miles can be a march to no where, if you are not walking in the right direction. I think this was also advice from the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.

The class encouraged us to write our own obituary. What is it; you would like people to say about you after you’re are gone?

The first time I wrote my “obit.” I was very frivolous. I just thought I wanted to be rich and famous, die young and leave a good looking corpse, the kind of things many young people think are the ultimate goals. When you really get serious about where you want to be at the end of your life, you begin to think about what you have to do to get from here to there, and what example to others you leave behind as your legacy.

You then, “live” with those ideas firmly implanted, as the guide lines of your life. Do you want to be remembered for your great service, or just your great car? Would you like people to say you traveled the best spots on earth, or you made the best of every place you were?

And so I write my Obituary:

Terri will be remembered for parties and her great homemade food. Everything wasn’t always great, but there was plenty to go around. She knew how to feed the multitudes with what was available and stay in the budget. All of her children know how to cook and enjoy experimenting with food.

She loved the cultural arts and was successful in her efforts to be accomplished at some of them, and encouraged others to try. Everyone was born to be a creator of something!

The cultures and folklore of the world fascinated her. She traveled enough to feed her travel bug and missed home enough to appreciate all the wonderful things she had there.

“There’s NO PLACE LIKE HOME!”

Terri loved to decorate and accessorize. She wanted to make things look great. She did! Whether it was an outfit, a costume, a room, a tree, a table or a sentence, it was well decorated and accessorized.

She was a romantic, who fell in love with family, friends and life, for life.

She was a faithful and dedicated member of her church and believed that the values it taught, bettered the strength and quality of lives.

Her husband, family and friends were of first importance, but her desire was to encourage them be a bit stronger, braver and better than their parents and teach their children to do the same. Clean up you own messes, and leave the world a little better than it was when you came into it.

In her later years, she published a story book for her grandchildren. Some of her short newspaper articles were compiled into a book called, “The Bathroom Reader: It’s never too late for MOTHER’S ADVICE! And you now have time to listen.” (Perhaps I’ll throw in a joke now and then, too keep them reading.)

She loved to write, and finally found a way she could still possibility teach her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren even after is dead and gone.

Remember the old phase, “You are what you eat!”? The other part of that is: We ARE, whatever we give our time to…..”Our priorities” makes us who we are and often, how we are remembered.