What do you want to be remembered for?

What do you want to be remembered for? This is certainly an interesting and thought-provoking question. It could be understod as a way to somehow "live on" also after you are dead. The more apparent answers would be via your children, and if you are an artist via your art, or via your music if you are a composer. Another view, is to answer with a list of adjectives, you would want people to use when speaking about and remembering you at your funeral. By applying that on today, you could see it as a way to get direction and purpose in your life, if you were to live and act accordingly.

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Before I was diagnosed with cancer, some of the top adjectives on my "To be remembered for list", would be: caring, positive, open-minded, supportive, joyous, generous, committed, self-reliant and ambitious.

My unexpected cancer diagnosis, painfully forced me to deal with thoughts and feelings I did not expect having to handle until much later in life, if ever. My priorities have changed as a consequence of the uncertainty of what the future holds, and I am much more focused on being in the presence, enjoying and appreciating what I have. I have come to realize that my "To be remembered for list" has somewhat changed and some more altruistic and unselfish adjectives, have advanced from further down on the list and have made their way into the top, these are: humanitarian, compassionate and grateful.
Humanitarian and compassionate: Expresses my desire to contribute to the greater good, and not only use my strengths and competencies for the benefit of my family, my employer and myself. Grateful: I do not take things like health for granted any longer. I am fortunate to be alive and grateful for every day! An excellent quote by Ashley Fern: 
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

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Unquestionably, these are positive changes and I am happy to have seen them happen. Now it is up to me to continue living and acting accordingly. ​

So what do YOU want to be remembered for? And more importantly, are YOU living by your answer? ​