This question forms the intriguing title of Robin Sharma’s book, which I am currently reading. Sharma recounts a poignant
piece of advice his father gave
As i Reflect on this profound statement, I invite you to ponder the following questions in the context of your career, leadership, or business: When you leave your current job, what will happen? Will people rejoice and say “good riddance,” or will they be genuinely saddened by your departure because of the impact you’ve had on their lives?
The truth is that every day, we have the power to shape this narrative through how we serve and interact with others. Our actions and contributions de ne our legacy.
I have attended quite a number of funerals in the few years that I have been alive. The rst one was for my father. I was three years old, or there about, with no idea of what was taking place. The second one was that of my mother. This one cut so deep, I cannot begin to explain it.
You see, mama had a dream. Rather, I had a dream for mama. I was raised in abject poverty, but at some point, I made it my enemy. I wanted it out of my family. I knew that education would be the ultimate weapon to achieve this dream. I did just about everything to fund this education, including smuggling illicit brew to neighboring Kenya. We were once arrested by the Kenyan police, but they just let us go out of sheer pity.
When I Nally got the chance to get a university education after a series of miracles, a never-say-die spirit, and sheer determination, the dream was closer to reality. However, in my second year at Makerere University, the bad news came: Mama was no more. What a shame! In fact, by the time I got to my village in Ogongoja, Katakwi District, the burial had long since been performed. There she was six feet under.
I wondered what her dreams in life were. I asked myself several existential questions. I cried. I wondered why people cry at funerals. Over the years, I realized they cry for different reasons. First, some will pretend because they want to be seen to have cared about the departed. These are a multitude.
Then, some cry because of a sheer unimaginable heartbreak. They know that they will not see you anymore, at least this side of heaven. Others will cry because you did impact their world so much and now that impact might not
