For many people, Friday marks a transition in schedule and interaction. We move from work where achievement reigns; to fellowship with family and friends where something else matters more.
My friend, Zach Mercurio (https://www.zachmercurio.com/) honored MLK this past week with a quote that got me thinking:
“Your contribution, not what you’ve achieved for yourself, is your legacy.”
Among the myriad of Tweets, this one stuck out.“Legacy” has been a topic of conversation with a brother of mine for years now. I believed that your legacy isn’t something you get to decide. By definition, you’ll be gone when your legacy is defined. Now I’m wondering if memory and legacy are different things.
Consider Martin Luther King Jr. himself. In a sermon delivered February of 1968, King told the congregation to remember him as a man who “tried to give his life serving others” along with his goal to emulate Christ’s work to feed the hungry, provide for the needy, and comfort prisoners.* Have we honored that wish 52 years later? In ways we have, it’s his legacy. But is it the first thing you thought of when I said his name? Probably not. Images of his “I Have A Dream Speech” and Nobel Peace Prize perhaps came first, they are his memory. Martin Luther King Jr. told us his legacy – his contributions on a daily basis. But, history has chosen its own memory – his personal accomplishments.
As most men can relate, I’d like to be remembered for something when I leave this earth. I’d like to be told that I’ve done something important. I can do things to try and get there but I’m at peace with the fact that I can’t choose what memories people have when the time comes. But like King, I’m starting to think that we can choose our legacy as contributors if we place priorities on others over ourselves.
Friendships and being in a LIFE Council may not be counted amongst your memorable achievements. What brotherhood will do is build your legacy of contribution. At the core, your friendships are a way to add to something bigger than you. A way to uplift the lives of others. To contribute to strong families, meaningful careers, and a movement of men who are stronger together.
This weekend, consider how you can build your legacy instead of your lasting memory while you’re away from work. Reach out to a friend to chat, volunteer a bit of time, give your wife and kids a hug like you haven’t in a while. Whatever it is to you, build your legacy of contribution this weekend by giving to others instead of focusing on you. As Jocko Willink has said, “You know the right thing to do. Just do it.”
“You know the right thing to do. Just do it.”
*King, “The Drum Major Instinct,” Sermon Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, in A Knock at Midnight, ed. Carson and Holloran, 1998. Via The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Stanford University. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/drum-major-instrinct