Lately it seems like we are seeing a lot of famous stars transition. We know it is inevitable as we age of course, but it is still hard to lose the people we grew up with, people who have made us laugh and enjoy this wonderful thing called life.

This week we lost comedic trailblazer and quick-witted fashion icon, Joan Rivers. Whether you are a fan of Joan or not, she made an impact on us during her time on this earth. So it got me to thinking about my own life and about leaving a legacy.

I don’t know if you are like me, but mortality always brings about reflection. I believe that the impermanence of lifeshould prompt us to want to live our BEST lives! That we should live it with more gusto and  passion because it is so short and uncertain. So today I want to us to discuss your legacy and what you are doing to ensure that you leave behind one that is truly representative of who you are.

A legacy can be monetary gift or something that happened in the past or comes from someone in the past. It is something that you leave behind after you die.
Many times we are told to only focus on the present, to only live for today and forget about tomorrow. I myself have said this many times. And while I believe that being present and focusing on now is absolutely how you should live, I also believe that remembering that you aren’t going to be here forever should also guide our decision-making and how we govern ourselves while in our earthly bodies. Let me explain.

As a mother to two boys, I make decisions differently than I did when I was single and without children. There are two lil’ guys looking up to me who are learning from me how to treat people, what is respectful, the importance of values, the concept of hard work, and how to take care of my body and spirit. For me, my legacy is to teach them everything I can before I transition, so they can grow up to great and productive men. For me, my legacy is the wisdom and knowledge that I will pass down to them that I got from my own parents and the financial benefits I have acquired in this life. But it also includes my cultural traditions, my musical tastes, my sense of wonder, my ability to laugh and be silly, and my entrepreneurial spirit. I find myself encouraging my boys to be entrepreneurs a lot, maybe its because I have owned several businesses. I want them to be in control of their own destinies and to be creators instead of just consumers. I know that this may not be their path, but I want them to know that it is an option. That instead of working for someone else, that they can create the jobs that will employ others. Regardless of their role, whether employee or employer, I want them to be happy with the contribution they make to the world and to do it with dignity and pride. My prayer is that whatever I achieve in this short life, that they will far exceed me, both in financial reward and achievement. I am now planting the seeds that will flourish long after I am gone.

So I want you to really think about what you want your legacy to be. What are you doing to create one that the people that you leave behind can hold onto when you are gone? What are you teaching people about you? What are you putting out into the world that will be your legacy? If you are a homemaker, maybe it is a book of recipes. If you are a Dad, maybe it is your box of tackle and a book of pictures from fishing excursions you have taken. If you are a mother, maybe it’s a scrapbook filled with stories and pictures of your entire family. Maybe its a video of you giving financial lessons to avoid or simple words of wisdom. Maybe it will be a blog or a business that can be inherited. There are so many wonderful things you can leave behind as your legacy. I want to encourage you to start thinking about it now and start creating it. Even the smallest thing could mean so much to the people that you leave behind.

So if you are a young girl and you are on social media, take a look at your feed. What message are you sending? If you were to die today and your family went and looked at your feed, what would it say about you? What would your legacy be? Would you be proud of how it represented you? Does it even represent you? What story does it tell? What energy are you putting out in the world? As Newton’s third law of motion (or karma) says: “The energy that you put into the world comes back. In other words, the fruit is in the seed. You can’t sow an apple seed and expect to get an avocado tree. The consequences of your life are sown in what you do and how you behave.” <that’s a tweetable y’all>

So today I want you to live your life fully present, but I want you to think about how you will affect  your world or THE world with your life. Even if your world is just a small community, your tribe of friends, or your nuclear family, what will people say about you long after you are gone?

When I think about my parents, I could not have imagined a better legacy. We still talk about them and quote them often. Even though they didn’t achieve much fame and fortune, the fruits of their lives manifested so beautifully in all nine of their children. For me, I hope that my boys (and the world) will say that Franka left the world a little happier and a little move loving than she found it.