No Longer There

“What would you leave behind when you’re no longer there?”

 

What an interesting question. I think that we’ve all had the thought “will people remember me after I’m gone?”, but that’s not the question I’m asking.

 

I’m asking what you are going to leave behind when you’re gone.

Is it going to be something you’re proud of? Something you would be happy to leave to your children? To your grandchildren?

 

I feel like a common theme among American politicians is “let’s build a better tomorrow.” But from my naive, typical, dumb American point of view, it’s so hard to see that they want to build a better tomorrow when the two political parties that make up our government are constantly trying to undo the progress and work of the other party.

No one is “coming together” on issues. To me, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of middle ground on issues that people care so strongly about. Our political system has manifested itself into a twisted, divided house of cards.

 

But I digress.

I don’t want to get too political, because I know that everyone has their own strong political opinion, and it certainly isn’t the sort of breakfast you want to start a positive, productive day.

But I bring it up because I want you to ask yourself, what can I do today to make tomorrow a better place than today?

 

That might seem like a strange question. I’m not telling you to anticipate for tomorrow.

I’m just tired of being surrounded by people that don’t care what tomorrow looks like. Keep in mind that there is a huge difference between “not caring” what tomorrow looks like and “not worrying about” what tomorrow looks like. Are you the kind of person that throws all of your garbage into one big trash can? Or do you recycle? Do you use paper, or plastic? Do you ask for permission, or ask for forgiveness? Do you forgive? Or do you forget?

 

This is another one of those instances where I think music speaks louder than words. The first line from today’s post came from the Australian band “The Cat Empire.” In the song, the singer paints scenarios with his words and melodies, asking the question over and over, “what would you leave behind when you’re no longer there?” The song is today’s “Song of the Day,” and I urge you to listen to it. Not only does it have a beautiful message, but it has a beautiful melody and flowing harmonies to boot.

 

Set out to not only make today great, but to make tomorrow greater.