
Most of us will not have the chance to see our obituary. But we do have a chance to write it. Think about what you would like your obituary to say about you. What would you want to be remembered for personally, professionally or spiritually? And now, the big question: What are you doing today to make that a real
This may seem like a negative topic, but the reality is, we are all going to die. We don’t have control over that, but we do have control over what is said about us when we are gone.
Think about what you would like your obituary to say about you.
There is a famous story about a man whose family was associated with the “art of war”. They built weapons and developed the means for battle and Alfred Nobel, one of the sons of the family was known for his work with explosives. He is actually credited with the invention of dynamite.
When Alfred’s brother, Ludvig, died, at least one French newspaper mistakenly reported that it was Alfred who had died. The mistake was soon corrected, but not before Alfred had the unique opportunity to read his own obituary. He was branded as a “merchant of death” in the article and it continued by saying he had amassed a great fortune through developing the tools of war.
This public denouncement of Alfred’s life work moved him to rethink his legacy. He used his great wealth to form several prizes for promoting the sciences and literature, and notably the Nobel Peace Prize. He was able to, in effect, rewrite his own obituary.
Most of us will not have the chance to see our obituary. But we do have a chance to write it. Think about what you would like your obituary to say about you. What would you want to be remembered for personally, professionally or spiritually? And now, the big question: What are you doing today to make that a reality?