If you are an avid movie watcher like me, I’m sure you have your rental store of choice. Whether it’s Netflix, redbox, Blockbuster, whatever; you eagerly await (or for the old fashioned, PICK UP) your movie each week and pray that it won’t be terrible (damn you “Slumdog Millionaire!”)
I will never get those two hours back...
Last week I received “The Social Network.” After hearing all the praise while watching the Oscars I decided it was time to cross watching this movie off my to-do list. So, last Thursday night I sat down with my roommate and popped it in. 2 hours later (which actually felt more like 20 minutes) I was left sitting there blown away. Not only should it have won best picture (I fell asleep during King's Speech...IN THE THEATER,) but it got me thinking for days afterward. If a kid in his 20s has the power to shape the lives of almost half the planet with an idea, what will my legacy be when it’s all said and done? What will all of our legacies be?
Really how often do any of us wonder how we will be remembered after we pass away? I know I sure as hell don’t think about it. I mean seriously, I’m only 24 years old. God willing, I still have a long productive life in front of me. But does having a lot of time left mean I should be procrastinating on what is the greatest test any of us will take?
Really how often do any of us wonder how we will be remembered after we pass away? I know I sure as hell don’t think about it. I mean seriously, I’m only 24 years old. God willing, I still have a long productive life in front of me. But does having a lot of time left mean I should be procrastinating on what is the greatest test any of us will take?
This is what 6.9 billion dollars looks like
Now many of us will never change the world the way the likes of Mark Zuckerberg have, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have as great an impact on our communities and the lives of the people around us. I know when I look back on my life when I’m old and gray I want to know one thing. That I did the best I could with the time I had, that I treated everyone I met with kindness and respect, and I left the planet a better place then when I entered it.
Now many of us will never change the world the way the likes of Mark Zuckerberg have, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have as great an impact on our communities and the lives of the people around us. I know when I look back on my life when I’m old and gray I want to know one thing. That I did the best I could with the time I had, that I treated everyone I met with kindness and respect, and I left the planet a better place then when I entered it.
Have I achieved those goals yet? God no. I’m not saying that I’m a failure, but like any person in their early 20s I have my faults. I’m judgmental, short sighted, and just as egocentric as everyone else. People our age all believe we are more mature than we actually are. Our parents and grandparents (for the most part) are ahead of us in these categories because they have lived life and EXPERIENCED it first-hand. You can read about something in a text book thousands of times but you really don’t learn something until you do it. It’s the hardest times in life that teach us the most about ourselves. Until you go through true loss and heartbreak you really haven’t learned the true limits you are able to withstand (which is always greater then we think.)
One of my favorite movie scenes ever
Lucky for us though, enlightenment doesn’t have an age limit. We can choose to open our eyes whenever we want and see the bigger picture. True, I don’t understand how powerful an experience having my first child will be or what the loss of a parent feels like, but I can listen to the advice and guidance of those who have gone through these things before me and absorb as much from them as I can so that when my time comes I’m as ready as I can be.
Lucky for us though, enlightenment doesn’t have an age limit. We can choose to open our eyes whenever we want and see the bigger picture. True, I don’t understand how powerful an experience having my first child will be or what the loss of a parent feels like, but I can listen to the advice and guidance of those who have gone through these things before me and absorb as much from them as I can so that when my time comes I’m as ready as I can be.
At any age we have the power to be better people. Whether it’s becoming a better self or being a better person to everyone around us, change is something we can and must do if we don’t like the situation we are in. Sometimes this means truly admitting faults in ourselves and pointing the finger inward rather that at everyone and everything else. Other times it might mean changing the way we view a situation. Either way the ability to become a better person is inside all of us, we just have to choose to act.
So ask yourself, if your life ended tomorrow, what would your legacy be? Is it something you would be proud of? If it is then awesome, continue kicking ass and taking names. But if you are like me and realize there is so much more you could be doing, then it’s time to sit down and re-evaluate the situation. The most powerful thing in the world is an idea. Every great achievement in history started in the mind of someone like you and I. So come up with your ideal you. Make it your number one goal to become that person. You may be surprised how far you can go.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check my facebook.
