Many Ways To Skin A Cat

There are many ways to skin a cat – not that I would ever try to skin a real one. I’m just saying there are many ways to do something.

As I thought about what to write today, the word ‘LEGACY’ crossed my mind.

This is a word that has come up several times this week as we talked about our late friend and classmate – Emmanuel Ebo (RIP). We all described what he left behind, the lives he touched, the relationships that he built as part of his legacy.

The reality is that if anyone had brought that word up with him when he was alive, he would have been the first person to dismiss it. For him it was just a way of being and doing life.

Today we see it as his legacy. Every prayer he prayed, every phone call he made, every conflict that he resolved, every action he took despite his busy life were the building blocks of his legacy.

We often hear about legacies in the form of foundations and other grandiose projects named after a person but are those the only ones that matter?

Sometimes the word, ‘legacy’ bears a slightly negative connotation because people link it with a burden to do something big. Many think legacy-building is overrated and we should just live our lives without this extra pressure. Should that be the case? I think not.

Whether we like it or not, we are all building our legacies and we will all leave one behind and the question is, what would it look like?

Are we going through life with a ‘me, myself and I’ mentality or are we leaving our footprints in the sands of life, people and places?

This past week, I have had to ponder this and today would like to ask about the legacies we are all building. As we pass through this life, we intentionally or unintentionally leave legacies behind.

We will cross path with people and leave them with experiences, go to places and leave memories behind. We will have many opportunities to make a difference. What we say to these opportunities when they arise will eventually form part of our legacies.

My personal thoughts on this:

Building a legacy doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg

Many of us know about the Bill Gates Foundation, or Oprah’s school in South Africa and this could erroneously make us feel like we must have tons of money to leave a legacy behind.

What about those who don’t have that kind of wealth, does it mean they can’t build legacies? Definitely not.

We can all do good within our spheres of influence. If 5 billion people make the decision to do good, the overall impact on society will far outweigh a few wealthy people doing good. And many legacies would have been built.

Building a legacy does not have to be a burden

By simply caring about the world we live in and the people we meet daily, we can build exceptional legacies. We have to see legacy building as being as simple as breathing and eating. It shouldn’t be seen as a pressure or burden.

We must change our perception of legacy and see it as daily activities that include smiling at someone, reaching out to others, stepping up to speak for the oppressed, addressing an injustice, taking someone out for a chat, coffee or meal.

Be willing to pay the price

There’s a cost to legacy building but it’s not the cost we often think about. It will cost us our time, emotions, passions, desires and sometimes our pride, self-obsession and unwillingness to put others first.

Simply put, it means we must be willing to care and care enough to take action.

Change your focus

Our focus is not that we live everyday thinking about what people would or wouldn’t say about us when we are not here. That is a wrong mentality. The beauty about building a legacy is that it takes care of itself.

Our focus should simply be on choosing to care, making the right daily choices and following through on them. It’s like stacking and gluing blocks together which eventually forms a structure.

In conclusion, I am reminded that our friend’s absence has been extremely noticeable because his presence was so felt by everyone. That is the true power and outcome of legacy building.

Thank you for reading and sharing my weekly post. Have a great week.