I recently read an interesting article entitled “6 Life Lessons: from the Dead” by Bryan Marquard, the obituary writer for the Boston Globe. It reminded me of something that kabbalists have done for centuries, which is to consciously remind themselves of their own mortality as a way of igniting desire for more change and transformation.
Today, take a moment to imagine what it would be like to be 90, 100, or 110 years old and think: OK, what did I really do with my life? What did I accomplish? Is at least one other individual a better person because I existed? Did I treat the people around me with care and human dignity? Did I do things in my life that created even the smallest change for others? Did I bring children to this world who are giving and decent because of the way that I trained them?
If you can answer all of these questions to your own satisfaction, then great. If not, then it might be worthwhile to consider what you can do to change and shape yourself into the person you want to be.
I’ll leave you with what I consider Bryan Marquard’s most powerful piece of advice: “No matter what you accomplish, how you treat people has a lot to do with how you will be remembered.”
