In thinking about my own family legacy in the wake of the death of a friend's father last month, I came across this phraseology of my mother's. When we left for the day, she called out to us an admonition to make it a good one, which has some interesting implications.
My mother's admonition implies that we control what happens to us to a degree. Despite what other people may think, every day you live becomes yours to shape as you desire. As a result of your choices and actions, you in part decide what kind of day you will have, and your destiny to some degree lies in your own hands. We can make today what we failed to make yesterday and make today whatever we want. Although many movies have postulated time travel into the future, the future has not been written yet, so we really can make it a good one. In fact, that's what Dr. Brown tells Marty McFly at the end of Back to the Future III:
After we make of today what we wish, my mom exhorts us to make it something good. I think about the toymaker in Babes in Toyland whose machine made a doll that was already broken so that the children wouldn't have to waste time doing it themselves when they received it. Many people I know care only about going with the flow and do not seek to improve upon their time by engaging in worthwhile endeavors. I spoke to a friend the other day who told me she hated superfluous conversation and so avoided "hanging out", but she admitted she substituted it with television. We have a duty to do today something worth venerating, worth remembering. We are no longer relegated to survivalism and the minutia drudgery of centuries past. We can make something of ourselves.
Consider also the twofold meaning of the word good- worthwhile and full of goodness. The things in which we may choose to vest our efforts lie along a sliding scale of comparable value to ourselves and others around us. Even when we choose good things, remember that the good part of the spectrum is also subdivided: good, better, best. In Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey talks about planning our priorities. Many years ago when I first started the Franklin/Covey system, I made a point to put down the things as top priorities that I wanted to do. I continue that tradition today. I may not seem to get much done, but I believe in quality not quantity. I have also thought about it, and I want this to be my epitaph:
My mother's admonition implies that we control what happens to us to a degree. Despite what other people may think, every day you live becomes yours to shape as you desire. As a result of your choices and actions, you in part decide what kind of day you will have, and your destiny to some degree lies in your own hands. We can make today what we failed to make yesterday and make today whatever we want. Although many movies have postulated time travel into the future, the future has not been written yet, so we really can make it a good one. In fact, that's what Dr. Brown tells Marty McFly at the end of Back to the Future III:
"Your future hasn't been written yet. Noone's has. So make it a good one."
After we make of today what we wish, my mom exhorts us to make it something good. I think about the toymaker in Babes in Toyland whose machine made a doll that was already broken so that the children wouldn't have to waste time doing it themselves when they received it. Many people I know care only about going with the flow and do not seek to improve upon their time by engaging in worthwhile endeavors. I spoke to a friend the other day who told me she hated superfluous conversation and so avoided "hanging out", but she admitted she substituted it with television. We have a duty to do today something worth venerating, worth remembering. We are no longer relegated to survivalism and the minutia drudgery of centuries past. We can make something of ourselves.
Consider also the twofold meaning of the word good- worthwhile and full of goodness. The things in which we may choose to vest our efforts lie along a sliding scale of comparable value to ourselves and others around us. Even when we choose good things, remember that the good part of the spectrum is also subdivided: good, better, best. In Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey talks about planning our priorities. Many years ago when I first started the Franklin/Covey system, I made a point to put down the things as top priorities that I wanted to do. I continue that tradition today. I may not seem to get much done, but I believe in quality not quantity. I have also thought about it, and I want this to be my epitaph:
Douglas ______ VIR
"An Ordinary Man"
"An Ordinary Man"
Besides, He in whose likeness I aspire to be "went about doing good and found favor with God and man". I like that. Make it a good one.
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