While a eulogy is spoken at the end of one’s life and it seems the dead really don’t have control over it, what if the challenge was to live your life by your eulogy; to control your eulogy.
Life gets busy and it is easy to live in survival mode. Advertisements convince us that we need the newest technology. Social media makes us feel pressure to keep up with people we haven’t seen in decades. And work makes us feel guilty that we go home after our shift because there is always more to do. If you know your eulogy and the intended audience, it helps simplify your life.
Step 1: Who will write your eulogy?
The advertising company, social media followers, your boss? Your loved ones! They live it, write it and read it. This piece helps center you: who are you going to give your energy to? Your loved ones are the ones you must prioritize.
Step 2: What do you want your eulogy to say?
If I want my eulogy to read that I am avid runner, then I should probably own a pair of running shoes, and maybe go for a run once in a while. I don’t; I don’t run unless a bear is chasing me. In this step, you need to dig deep into who you want to be. What stories do you want told or remembered about you? Do you want to be creative grandma, funny uncle, healthy dad, or the sports enthusiastic brother? Who do you want to be?
Step 3: Live it, Be it.
If you want to be remembered as a family person, then say no to that extra assignment at work or when work calls, begging for staff because they are short but you have a couch date with your kids, say no. Remember: work doesn’t write your eulogy, the kids that just got stood up because you went to work, they do.
Living your eulogy does a few things. It makes you face your mortality knowing that today is the best day for making the memories of tomorrow. Your eulogy helps you realize the priorities you have, who is important and is what I am doing helping or hurting those important to me? I know there are times we may have to go against our eulogy, bills must be paid, deadlines need to be met…but not every day. Not every day must we sacrifice what is important to us for the superficial now moments.
Live your eulogy; let it guide your decisions. There is power in owning the memory you make. There is fulfillment in choosing to be an active participant of the memories you want to create.