What Do We Want To Be Remembered For?

Knowing what we want to be remembered for would give us an added impetus to examine the state and direction of our lives. It could well help us to be more willing to pay the price forward and encourage us to soldier on with our desired quest in life.

In his book Half Time, Mr Bod Buford shared that he has chosen "100X" for his epitaph. It means "100 times"; to be as productive as possible. As he puts it, "My passion is to multiply all that God has given me, and in the process, give it back."

When we reach middle age and come to grip with the second half of life, we can consider the following questions which Buford himself has pondered:

"Am I listening for the still, small voice (on the inside of me)?

Is my work still the centre of my life and identity?

Do I have an eternal perspective as a prism through which I view my life?

What is my truest purpose? My life work? My destiny?

What does it really mean to "have it all"?

What do I want to be remembered for?

What would my life look like if it really turned out well?"

Today, I read about the legacy of the Mr Ken Rose whose son, Justin, won the 113th US Open held at the Merion Golf Club on Sunday and became the first English golfer to win it in 43 years.

Writing for the Sporting Life column of The Straits Times dated 18 June 2013, Mr Rohit Brijnath offered glimpses of Justin's victory in the following two excerpts:-

"If you look closely on Sunday, strewn across Merion's tight fairways and mysterious greens were the scattered shards of grown men's hearts. In this Sunday of the heartbroken, only one man was intact. Justin Rose did not slay this beast of a course, he merely was not eaten up by it."

"Every time it bruised him, he responded. Bogey at the third, birdie on the fourth. Bogey at the fifth, birdies at the sixth and seven. Bogey at 11, birdie at 12 and 13. Bogey at 16, key pars at 17 and 18. Under pressure he found grace; amid tension he found the pure stroke. It was golf that was rarely faint-hearted."

Upon his win, Justin raised his trophy to the sky as a tribute to his late father. "I felt like I sort of put into practice a lot of the lessons that he (Ken) has taught me, and I felt like I conducted myself in a way that he would be proud of," he said.

Now, when I think of Rose it would not be just The War of The Roses or The Name of The Rose, but also Ken Rose and Justin Rose.

So, what do we want to be remembered for?