“You'll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. I don't care how much money you have or what level of notoriety you've achieved; you can't take any of it with you.”
—Denzel Washington1
A few years ago, my boss told us during a team meeting that we needed to use our vacation time. Under our PTO policy, you stop accruing vacation time when you reach 150% of your annual total. I chuckled when my colleague with the most remaining vacation exclaimed, “Yes, I win!” My thoughts immediately went to the picture above with the U-Haul carrying vacation days to the graveyard.
Seems obvious, right? For me, I was too distracted for much of my life to think about this truth. It doesn’t matter whether you are entry-level, mid-level, or “C” level. One day, we will leave all of this behind. We can’t take our vacation days, our 401K’s, lake houses, boats, good looks, record collections, cars, or toys with us. If you’re like me, you didn’t stop to think about it much on the path to pursuing your life goals.
Pause for a minute with me.
My aim with this post is to turn your mind away from what author David Brooks calls “resume virtues” and toward “eulogy virtues.” Resume virtues are what we talk about in life - where we work, what we’ve accomplished, and what accolades we’ve received from others. Eulogy virtues are what others say about us when we die - the people we were, our character, and the relationships that defined our life on earth.2
Eulogy virtues make me think of LEGACY. Who do you want to carry on yours? Is it your family, friends, neighbors, or the people you lead? What seeds do you want to plant now that, when watered over time, will produce fruit well beyond your time on earth?
I love what actress Viola Davis said about significance in her tribute to Cicely Tyson3:
There is a cap on earthly success, a ceiling on the amount of joy that possessions and awards can bring before disillusionment sets in. Our appearance, our prosperity, the applause: all of it is so fleeting. But a life of true significance has unlimited impact. It is measured in how well we've loved those around us, how much we've given away, how many seeds we've sown along our path.
It makes me think of my high school band director, Pat Ellison. She instilled in us a pride and hunger for excellence. Her bands always won the top awards. She never settled for anything less than our very best. She also cared deeply for her kids and went out of her way to show her love and care for us.4
That is legacy. That is significance. She passed away in 2021. She remains one of my heroes.5
Do you want your life to have unlimited impact? I do. We aren’t promised tomorrow, so let’s get busy asking the right questions today. Here’s to living lives of legacy significance. Make this week count!
If you enjoyed this blog, please hit the ❤️ button so more people will see it. Thank you!
She also convinced my wife Susanna to go on a date with me!
Thank you for sharing this post. …Eulogy
The older I get the more I know that I know very little.
—David Bing
Christ’s love, wisdom, protection, strength, joy, promises, and favor on you. One day at a time.
A Time For Everything
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 NLT
[1] For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. [2] A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. [3] A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. [4] A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. [5] A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. [6] A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. [7] A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. [8] A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. [9] What do people really get for all their hard work? [10] I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. [11] Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. [12] So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. [13] And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. [14] And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God's purpose is that people should fear him. [15] What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again. [16] I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! [17] I said to myself, "In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds." [18] I also thought about the human condition-how God proves to people that they are like animals. [19] For people and animals share the same fate-both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! [20] Both go to the same place-they came from dust and they return to dust. [21] For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth? [22] So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die.
I am SO glad Ms. Ellison convinced me to choose you Tarek ♥️