Legacy & Leggings
Posted by: sarahrhoads | January 31st, 2011
To be honest I'm having a bit of a melancholy Monday morning. This is rare for me because I am always that unusually happy person to wake up on a Monday morning and have a list as long as my arm to tackle. Somehow Monday's invigorate me. But this Monday I woke up to some very sad news about a friend from high school that died in a car accident yesterday. It made me nostalgic, it of course made me sad, it made me think about a lot of things, just as death always does. It made me think a lot about legacy, what that means, what mine looks like, what I want that to look like and how important it is to live life intentionally.
If legacy is the thing that we leave behind once we are gone, what will each of ours look like?
Will people say we were too busy? That we were too caught up in our own affairs? I read a quote once that that said "The greatest waste in all of our earth which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of the time that God has given us each day." - Billy Graham
I would imagine that it is relatively safe to say most of us want to live a legacy of love, of doing something that goes beyond ourselves to extend something beautiful to another person. One thing I am working on in my own life is to make more space in my life to give. If I'm not intentional about opening up time and space for people I will just be that "crazy photographer lady who works too much," and to be honest that legacy kind-of stinks.
One thing I think all of us struggle with as entrepreneurs is spending so much time working that we forget about the living and giving part. The challenge is most of us LOVE what we do, so it is difficult to cut back on a seemingly good thing. But what I am discovering is a good life is a balanced one. I have been un-balanced most of my adult life, throwing myself without reservation into every endeavor I take on. However, I'm learning to say no more. To stop working at a decent hour. To take days off. To go get my nails done with a friend in the middle of the day. To do yoga. To be part of a community group. To be truly present with people. These may seem like small things to some of you, but they are huge steps for me. Hi, my name is Sarah & I am a workaholic. But I'm working on that for the sake of living a better life, and hopefully along the way I can create a legacy in the name of love... One that is rich in experience, compassion, love, serving others, real encounters with people, and creating something beautiful.
