Welcome to “How You Living?” a transformative podcast featuring best-selling author, inspirational speaker and minister, Dr. Rick Rigsby—and, now, Dr. Rick.
(00:24): Hello friends. Thank you so much for joining us today. I want to talk to you about legacy. Actually. I wanna discuss going beyond legacy. That's why I've titled this podcast episode legacy 2.0, I have a habit that dry up to my wife. Absolutely crazy. I probably have many of them, but this one for sure. I know drives are crazy. I love reading. And once in a while, I like to begin at the end of the book first while that thought is in your mind, let's think about something we don't tip like to think about or talk about. And that is examining the end of our life. I wanna ask you a simple question. How do you want to be remembered? Let me explain why I am inviting you to examine the end of your life for a moment first. I don't think we do this enough.
(01:22): You know, who wants to think about our mortality? Who wants to think about the finality of death? However, when I force myself to think about the end of my life, I actually help reestablish my priorities. I realign what's important. I push out that, which is artificial and frivolous, and oftentimes a distraction I include what's more meaningful and more significant as opposed to that, which just simply is not worth thinking about after evaluating his life, the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, the possess, and the pursuits king Solomon said on one occasion, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. This simple statement, underscores what can be the pointlessness of life. The absurdity of all human activity, king Solomon was really asking what's life really all about. Is it about my riches? Is it about my wealth, my possessions, my fame. When we reach that point where we evaluate our life's work and reflect on our activities and contributions, I'm sure we want our response to be that we made a difference that we left this world a better place rather than gloating over our collection of toys and saying vanity of vanities all is vanity at this point.
(02:51): You're no doubt thinking, where is this coming from? Rick? Why are you talking about the end of life? It's a fair question. And I have a very simple answer. I'm recording this podcast in a hotel room, as opposed to my normal recording venue. My office at home I'm in between two engagements on the road, a fundraiser and a funeral. You know, friends, sometimes opportunities just present themselves. this weekend. I am privileged to attend a celebration honoring the life and legacy of former first lady, Barbara Bush. More on that in a moment during this very same weekend, I am saying goodbye to one of my favorite cousins who died way too soon. I speak at her service in just a few hours. In both cases, I I've been thinking a lot about legacy legacy. Something passed down to the next generation. I have four grown sons, great young men.
(03:50): The older I get, the more I think about what I want to pass down to each of them as a younger dad, legacy involve material things, you know, houses or cars, jewelry, money, collectibles books, but as I've grown older, my thoughts have adjusted today. I'm a father and a grandfather. And while material things have immense value, there is something of even greater significance to pass along. As I think about my cousin and her amazing life, I am struck by one fact, she didn't just leave a legacy. She made an impact money. Can't buy impact houses and cars cannot replace impact. Diamonds and furs cannot produce impact. My cousin made an act in the following ways. She had a strong disregard for the status quo. She refused to be labeled or placed in a box. She lived her life on her terms. For example, she attended law school, not so much to practice law, but to make sure that she could make a difference in the of others.
(05:03): Do you know a relative or a friend like this? One who bucks the trend who refuses the conventional, who walks not the path of the masses, but selects a road. Les traveled. That was my cousin, Barbara Ann Barbara did not do what was convey. She did not participate with the current styles just to be stylish. She was that rare individual. Not limited by the expectations of others. She didn't just leave a legacy. My cousin made an impact. What a value can I leave? My sons, my grandchildren I've started a list and my new list looks very different from the one I compose a few years ago. Take a listen. Here's the number one item on my list. May I inconvenience myself daily for the sake of others? I want to pass that down. Second. May I seek unity with all, especially those I oppose. Number three, may my children see me, love their mother with passion.
(06:15): Fourth may my love to all be unconditional. Number five, may I be a blessing and an encouragement to everyone. I encounter. Number six, may I see each day as a gift making the most of that day. And number seven, may I offer hope to at least one person every single day for the rest of my life, others first unity above all demonstrating love toward my wife, loving others, unconditionally, being an encourager fully living every day, seeing each day a gift and offering hope friends. This is the legacy that I wanna leave. This is how I want to be remembered. But this particular weekend, something has changed. My definition of legacy has been expanded. You see, last night, as I mentioned, I attended an event to commemorate the legacy, a former first lady, Barbara Bush, and her initiative to increase literacy for all. Mrs. Bush believed that increasing literacy at any age could transform generations.
(07:33): According to Mrs. Bush quote, if you help a person to read, then there are opportunities in life will be endless in quote, as I listen to all the tributes and the testimonies about Mrs. Bush and her amazing life. My thinking began to change my definition of legacy expanded, hence legacy 2.0, this is what changed legacy important. It really is. It's very significant, but what you leave has to be more than just material than just monetary. There's a higher level. Something even more important than legacy. My cousin bar and former first lady, Barbara Bush left more than a legacy. They impacted their world. Here's my new thought legacy is what we work toward. It's a passive goal. Seldom talked about or discussed, but impact is active. It's daily impact is legacy applied in the trenches impact has little to do with the culmination of things. Acquired impact is about living out our values, becoming our best self, a self that places other people.
(09:01): First, let me say it a different way. Friends legacy is how we want to be remembered. Impact is why people will never forget us. I will never forget my father, the wisest man I've ever met in my life. That third grade dropout, I will never forget my dad who left me very little in terms of material worth, but his impact seismic, I will never forget my mother. She was the force that kept our family moving forward. I'll never forget my mom. She left very few possessions, but her impact gigantic this weekend has clarified my thinking. I'm not only speaking at my cousin's service today, but I've been named the executor of her estate. It's a modest estate, not excessively large, but Barbara Anne's impact on our family. Immeasurable last night's fundraiser was a star studed gala. All of the proceeds going to Mrs. Bush's literacy project.
(10:12): As part of the event, several authors are invited each year or to discuss their bestselling books and to share the role literacy has played in their lives. Last night, I was privileged to be among the authors selected along with the Bush granddaughters, Jenna and Barbara twin daughters, a president George w and Laura Bush. The sisters of published their third bestseller, a children's book titled the superpower sisterhood. The night was just filled with amazing speeches and video tributes that honored the legacy of Mrs. Bush with a down earth style. She just simply impacted everyone, especially those less fortunate. One of my favorite pictures in her book titled Barbara Bush, a memoir is a picture of Mrs. Bush cradling a small brown skin child. This child happened to be suffering with aids, Mrs. Bush held this child close to her. She's just totalling over the child and that child would pass according to the caption that child passed away just a few weeks later.
(11:23): But I know that for a moment in time, that child felt hope that child felt love. That child felt acceptance. That was Barbara Bush friends. That's not just legacy that at is impact. Legacy is how we want to be remembered. Impact is why people will never forget us. So at the end of the evening, I made a decision. I will be honored to pass along possessions to my children and grandchildren. However, in all the funerals I've ever officiated, I have yet to see a U-Haul behind a hearse, but the most important thing I can leave, not be given a price tag. It cannot be appraised. It cannot even be defined in just one word. And it's because it's not something that I will leave, but rather, a lifestyle that I will live reflecting on the lives of both. Barbaras. I commit to a lifestyle of putting others first unity above all loving my wife and others unconditionally offering an encouraging word, realizing that each day is a gift live life to the fullest and offering hope to everyone. I encounter simply state it. I don't want to just merely leave a legacy. I want to make an impact. So thank you, cousin, Barbara Ann. Thank Mrs. Barbara Bush for helping me to see that legacy is how you want to be remembered. But impact is why people will never forget you. Well, friends, that's gonna do it for this episode until we meet again. This is Dr. Rick asking the most important que I can ask how you living.
Are you ready to make an impact in your world right now? Do you want to stop existing and start living your best life right now? Dr. Rick wants to give you the first chapter of his bestselling book, “Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout”, absolutely free. Just go to www.RickRigsby.com/FreeGift to get the print or audiobook right now.
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