I read a article regarding the passing of Scott Lemmon, the author of Proxomitron. It is sometimes amazing the effect that events can have on us. What actually hit me was the legacy that Scott has left… and the high regard in which he was and is held. It speaks volumes of the man.

How are each of us going to be remembered?
How do we wish to be remembered?
What is going to be our own legacy to this world?
What is a legacy anyway?

The dictionary says a legacy is:

1/ something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past,
2/ something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time

I tend to think of a legacy as something we leave for future generations. So what is it that you would like to leave for the future generations? We will all leave something, some indication as to how we lived our life. We will all leave footprints in others memories to be recounted, if only in a silent moment. How we live our life now will be the legacy of the future.

When reading the article about the ideas and thoughts on a man I never knew, I was drawn to thinking of the feelings this man had sparked by his work. The article talks with a high regard for a man who devoted his time to helping others in a way that he became an expert in. A search in google shows the regard he was held.

What better legacy could we all leave? …that someone will write a passage about our contribution.

My grandfather wrote a poem that sticks in my mind about creating your legacy

Follow your Star

Follow your star, and hold to it, wherever it may lead
The voice within which calls you is the only voice to heed:
It may not bring you affluence but this you’ll surely find –
T’will bring you life’s most precious pearl – the gift of peace of mind
Live your life regardless of what other folks may say
There always will be those who think that you should live their way
But if, within yourself, you feel there’s something you should do –
Don’t hesitate! The only one to live your life is you.

Do your own thing. Just you alone can make that thing come true:
No-one else in all this world can share your point of view.
So don’t hold back in deference to someone else’s whim
The world needs you for what you are yourself alone – not him
Dream your dreams: Imagination is a priceless gift to hold,
The pictures in your inner mind are worth their weight in gold.
Don’t see them as just idle thoughts to while the time away,
But rather as the blueprints for what you’ll achieve one day.

W Gray 1905-1989

Another legacy… the written word from my grandfather. You see how this works. Whatever we do a legacy is created.

We can contribute in areas that we enjoy. We can also give a gift. Thomas Leonard, who was the founder of the Coaching Industry, said that a legacy is a gift that keeps on giving without the giver needing to be present.

It’s the type of legacy that you will leave that is the aim. We can all go on living our lives as if we aren’t important, as if nothing we will do is worth commenting on. The fact is that everything we do is an imprint that shines out. Our very actions are noticed and create a response or reaction. Life is like that. Only we can change the imprint we make… and if you are thinking that nobody will comment, take another look. Everything each of us does, has an effect.

So with this thought, I hope that we can all leave a legacy, maybe not as great as Scott Lemmon, or maybe as great. If his work can inspire people to follow their own dreams, create their own life stamp… Mankind will benefit tremendously.

Thanks Scott, thanks for your contribution, thanks for being you. To your family, all our thoughts are with you. Although I didn’t know him at all, I can say that he has inspired me to write this…

May we never forget the lives that have touched us.

Bill Gray