Gold nuggets III

 

Legacies

When we hear the word – legacy- we immediately think Money, Wealth, Windfall.

Many people have a last will and testament. They have bequeathed their earthly goods in writing, after long deliberations with partners and lawyers.

 Today I want to talk about a spiritual legacy, the “other” legacy.

From: Showing Up For The Golden Years

In past generations, whole civilizations not only allowed, but expected the older members to exchange manual labor for mentoring and being the wise ones. Their task was to pass on history, knowledge, and wisdom of the tribe to the younger members. No survival was imaginable for the clan without that mentorship and the perfection of hindsight. It would have left them vulnerable and likely to make the same mistakes over and over again. 

The old tribes had it easy. Somehow, their children and grandchildren were taught to revere their elders and listen to their advice.

Today, people of all ages are kept so busy, they hardly have time to ponder their own lives, let alone integrate the gold nuggets from their elders. That means that spiritual or personal legacies have to be preserved until the children and grandchildren are ready to receive them.

One way to do that is to compose an ethical will.

From: Showing Up For The Golden Years

An ethical will can be a strongbox of common sense and life lessons learned. It is a perfect place to give a heads-up to younger family members about personal growth, being attentive to the inner voices, and courageously following those voices.

 

…An ethical will, however, holds another potential. It can be a perfect midlife vehicle to explore our values. It can be a review of character traits, life expectations, goals met and missed. This process has the potential to help us examine and understand ourselves, guide us in finding our place in time and the door to our future. Why would that be scary or undesirable?

 Ethical Wills are never ever about money. They are about life and continuum.

 

Whisper of the day:

Gather your life’s gold nuggets. They are the true inheritance of a lifetime.

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