Your Eulogy
© Leslie Householder
Author of #5 National Best-seller, "The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can"
ThoughtsAlive.com

Have you ever heard the suggestion that you should compose your own eulogy?

Does it seem morbid? Actually, the earlier in your life you write your eulogy, the better. What do you want people to say about you when you are gone? What would they say, or think, if you were to pass on tomorrow? Let's operate on the assumption that we have a number of years left... at least 80 more :) ... and project our minds ahead to what kind of person we COULD become in that much time.

What kind of a mark could you leave on this planet? How many lives could you touch? Whatever your experiences have been, you've learned a lot, no doubt. How many people on this planet now, and in the years to come, will need to learn the hard lessons you've been required to learn? Thank heaven's for people who take their hardships and turn them into another person's blessing.

Whatever it is that you'd like people to say or think upon your passing, there's no better time than right now to direct your life to that end. Take a minute to write down at least 3 things you want to be remembered for. If you do (and I know that only the rarest person will...), then you have just taken a powerful step in creating an amazing and admirable life. Dilemmas that come to you will be seen with increased clarity, choices will not be so difficult to make, and the support you need will come into your life -- as you are ready for it.

Think of the three things you want said about you. Whether in sentence form or in a list, it doesn't matter.

Now, once they're decided, supppose you wrote something like: 'he was always a man of integrity' (it doesn't have to be a characteristic you already possess...).

Now, you can use the following formula to know if someone or something in your life is a true friend to you:

_________ makes it easier for me to have integrity. T / F ?

Put your colleagues' names in there one at a time, and if the statement is true, then perhaps you have a true friend in that person. If the statement is false, then you have in your life a co-worker or colleague who does not support your life's mission. Surround yourself as much as possible with the support you need who will help you become the person you really want to become.

Now put other things in there, like perhaps your favorite hobby. Does spending time with that hobby make it easier for you to have integrity? Maybe it does. What about certain books you might read? What kind of shows can you watch that will inspire you to have integrity?

Let's look at another one: 'She was a woman of courage.' Now, let's create the formula:

_________ makes it easier for me to have courage. T / F ?

Some things you may put in there will be entirely irrelevant, at least on the surface. For example: grocery shopping on Tuesdays makes it easier for me to have courage. True, false, or irrelevant? Probably irrelevant. But what about: listening to a motivational tape makes it easier for me to have courage. Or: might choosing to dodge my creditor's phone calls make it easier for me to have courage? (Not likely.)

The point is, once you have identified at least 3 of your most cherished values, you'll make your daily choices with greater clarity. In time, you will have shaped your life, choice by choice, and the eulogy WILL become true. It might take some time before you will feel or see the effects of your tiny choices along the way, but it all adds up.

So what qualities do you value most in a person? Honesty? Integrity? Optimism? Wisdom? Strength? Or something else? Choose your qualities like you were shopping for them at a grocery store. Put the ones that matter most into your basket, and take them home with you. They don't have to be a part of you yet, you just have to choose them.

Then write that eulogy. It could be the hardest thing you ever do, but probably one of the most significant things you could do to put your life on a different path altogether, if that's what you want. What qualities are possessed by the happiest people you know? Can you name the qualities? Remember, they don't have to be true just yet. What do you aspire to be?