Leaving a Legacy

What do you want to be remembered for? How are you going to leave your legacy? 

This probably sounds like a dark topic but it’s a question that has been on my hubby’s and my mind lately. I’m not sure why this has been on our minds so much. Maybe it’s because we just welcomed our second baby into the world and we’ve been going over all of our financial and legal planning with our advisor for our kids. It might be because we’re building our business and trying to create something bigger. Or it could possibly be due to the fact that both of our grandparents aren’t doing all that great right now and the values and traditions they have taught us are becoming more transparent and important to start doing with our own children. 

{Photo credit: K Solberg Photography}

And then while these topics have been weighing heavy on our minds, two of our favorite podcasts that we listen to on the daily both had episodes chatting about leaving a legacy, and it made us think that much harder. 

Leaving a Legacy Bigger than your Business | Protractor Podcast
How to Leave a Legacy | Goal Digger Podcast

So I wanted to share and chat more about this with you mommas out there just in case this topic has been on your minds as well. 

Sometimes I feel when we think about leaving a legacy we think we have to create something BIG. We might think that it’s all about leaving money behind or creating a name for ourselves that will be remembered for generations to come. While both of these are important, leaving a legacy can also be as simple as leaving love, an imprint in someone’s heart or creating those small family traditions. 

My dad passed away when I was in my early twenties very unexpectedly. He was a kind and selfless man that worked his booty off for his family. He worked so hard to care for his family, put us all through college and literally give us anything we asked for that he sacrificed any dreams of his own. While it makes me sad to think he sacrificed it all to give us the world, I also will forever work extremely hard for the things that are important to me. And his kids were his world. 

My favorite memory with him was when we would sit on the porch and listen to the rain. There we would have sometimes meaningful conversations or just sit and enjoy one another’s presence. Now whenever it rains, I go to the front porch and just sit and listen, and sometimes I can feel his presence there. This is just one of the many small things I want to do with my boys to honor my dad’s legacy. 

Every single day, with every single action in every single moment we are creating our story. My grandparents are two of my favorite people in the world. In times of stress, I think back to stories they have shared with me and it reminds me to either chill out (because it’s never been as bad as what they’ve been through) or to chase after my mad crazy dreams.

With very little money in my grandparents’ pockets, my grandpa took the risk and moved from the small town of Roseau, MN to Florida to be a carpenter building houses and making little to next to nothing and breaking his back. A handful of years later he was working in the White House as the Secretary of Agriculture all while raising seven incredible human beings. However, my grandpa gives all that credit to my grandma for raising such a great family. And so he should, ha! In the midst of life’s chaos, they lost two of their own children (including my dad) and have gone through a ton of other loss and pain, but have continued again and again to prevail, love deeper and give more. They are the most generous people I have ever met and have continued to take care of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren even in their 80’s. I am so thankful that they are still around and can continue to share these stories and give advice to me and my boys. 

Isn’t that just crazy to think that RIGHT NOW we are leaving our legacy? The words that we are saying, the way that we are acting… it’s becoming our story. This also reminds me that no one else can write our story and determine our destiny but ourselves. Thinking about this always makes me think more and more about our overall purpose and what I’m doing on the daily to bring me one step closer to that.

It’s no surprise that social media is changing the way we leave our legacy behind. Your digital identity now will eventually become your digital legacy. Will people be going through scrapbooks, notes, and cards reminiscing once we are no longer here or will they be scrolling through our Facebook and Instagram feeds, looking at comments or blog posts we wrote? Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it? What are you writing now that your great great grandchildren might read one day and remember you by? 

Building our business, construction2style, Jamie and I are always thinking about how we can give and give and give and create something bigger than just running a business. Every post we make on social or on our blog, whether it’s a comment on someone else’s platform or our own status update, we strive to be intentional and always think about two things:
1) Is this going to leave a smile on someone’s face?
2) Are we providing any value? 

If not, we try not to post it. Our number one mission behind construction2style is to make people happy. Create a home, not just a house, but a home that they create their legacy within. So whether they hire us to do it or do it themselves we want to help create that for them. A place of happiness. 

Within the Goal Digger Podcast we had listened to, Jenna left five takeaways and I wanted to share them with you guys too because it’s something we’ve actually written down and posted on our mirror to continue to think about. These are a little more business geared, but I’ve been applying it both ways and we hope it leaves you thinking too.  
1) Recognize your story is important. Empower it. Share it. 
2) Distinguishing what connects you to other people in a meaning full way to put relationships first.
3) Telling a bigger story. 
4) Trust your gut on what to share and how to share it.
5) Being the author of your life and your clients’ lives, how are you sharing THEIR story as well as they could share it?

How about you, mama? What are you doing today that will influence your children someday?