I Want to Live! Part 1: In the End it is the Beginning

Fact: Everyone who is born will someday die. Everyone who is living is technically dying. So, where does that leave us?

Let’s begin by starting at the end: seeing the “big picture” can also be called “seeing the end from the beginning”1. We are accountable for our lives. What that looks and feels like is up to you. Setting goals is a great way to be accountable to you. You can take the larger end goal and break it down into smaller achievable ones. 

What if my life goal was to feel ______? What would that look and feel like? How can I achieve that? What would you want to be said of your life? How do you want to be remembered? You can create that in your life long before you die! You don’t have to wait until you die to leave a legacy, you can manifest a living legacy now. Write down what it is you really want, believing that you already have it and voila you are on your way to the person you always dreamed of being.  

For example, years ago I was given an assignment from a professional therapist to write my own obituary and epitaph. I thought her suggestion was a bit weird, maybe morbid. Why would I want to think about dying, even though I thought that dying is what I wanted to do? She called me out on my crap and had me face it in a way that was more fun for me. It was a challenge that I hesitantly accepted.

I have changed information for anonymity of others. You can make your own headstone here. This is the final product of that conversation:

Hannah Elisabeth

December 15, 1980 – August 10, 2058

Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois to Emma Paige Hale and Thomas Spencer Call. Hannah was the 5^th of 6 children in a bustling home. From an early age she had a great and special love for those around her. This love continued to blossom with every passing year. She truly loved to be in the service of others, especially her husband and children.

Her greatest life’s work was her beautiful family. Her two sons Derrick (Clarissa) Hart and Spencer (Marissa) Hart survive her. At a young age, Emily stated, “I want to grow up and be a sweet Grandma.” She lived to fulfill that goal and dream.

Emily married her 1^st husband, Matthew Hart on July 23, 2003 in Oakland, California. She later married her 2^nd husband, John Nelson on June 12, 2015 in Austin, Texas. Her sweet, late husband passed away on May 1, 2053.

While her body and spirit have been separated for a time, her legacy of love lives on in the hearts of all those whom she touched. She was devoted to God, her family, her church, and many service professions. She worked as a massage therapist and a counselor to thousands. Hannah truly had a pioneering spirit and always wanted to learn ways to improve herself and increase her understanding and relationship with the Lord.

Her great love was learned through many steep trials. She stands as an ever-faithful witness of Jesus Christ. She was and is an example to all of the Lord’s love for each of us and of the hope and healing that can come through the Atonement. Her testimony lives on in the hearts of those who have had the privilege of sharing a part of their lives with her. She will be greatly missed and will surely be anxiously awaiting our return as well.

Every day is a gift and today I choose to live. I live a legacy of peace and love because I am peace and I am love. I do this by loving myself and magnifying God through gifts I have the privilege of exercising. I live true to who I am and I live wholeheartedly. I take daily inventory to evaluate my progress and areas of weakness. I determine to be a little better each day. I look at my part in things and accept the consequences. I learn from my mistakes so that they can be made strengths. I allow God to soften my heart to all that is in store for me.

I know that even after I die I am still alive. I am alive in the energy which is always present and I am alive in the hearts of those who will remember me. 

What will your living legacy be? For it is in the end that we have a new beginning.