August 28 2017

By: Jackie Hook
Monday, August 28, 2017

Attending to your own legacy is an important function of your life now. One way to do that is to write an ethical will or “legacy letter.” Rabbi Jack Riemer and Dr. Nathaniel Stampler say, “…the impulse to write it is deeply human as well as sanctified by tradition.” They suggest you address numerous topics such as:

  • These were the formative events of my life…
  • This is the world from which I came…
  • These are some of the important lessons that I have learned in my life…
  • These are the people who influenced me the most…
  • These are some of the favorite possessions that I want you to have and these are the stories that explain what makes these things so precious to me…
  • These are causes for which members of our family have felt a sense of responsibility and I hope you will too…
  • These are the mistakes that I regret having made the most in my life that I hope you will not repeat…
  • This is my definition of true success…
  • This is how I feel as I look back over my life…
  • I would like to ask your forgiveness for… and I forgive your for…
  • I want you to know how much I love you and how grateful I am to you for …

Stephen Covey said, “People are internally motivated by their own four needs: to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.” We want to help you meet those needs. Please check out our News & Events page for more information.

                                                                                              (First printed in the July 26 Centre County Gazette)

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

September 18 2023

Author Terry Patten wrote, “In truth, the heart must crack open if the soul is to become free. And you simply cannot think your way into that.” Loss cracks our hearts open and grieving is how we he...

September 11 2023

It’s impossible for me to see today’s date and not think about the horrific events that happened on this day in 2001. My family and I were living in Yardley, Pennsylvania, at the time and my husban...

September 4 2023

This month our theme is “Surrender Your Soul.” The word soul can be very intimidating. What is it? Where is it? And how do I connect with it? There are no definitive answers to those questions, but...

August 28 2023

–  I’ll share this poem as we close out our discussion of “Death Is the Memory of the Living.”  At least from my perspective, our lives are so full of dead people that any sane way of li...

August 21 2023

One of the quotes that I think of in reference to this month’s theme of “Death Is the Memory of the Living” is Thomas Campbell’s quote, “To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die.” A few wee...

August 14 2023

Thinking about our theme of “Death Is the Memory of the Living,” I’m so grateful for Continuing Bonds Theory. This theory recognizes that a death does not end a relationship. It’s healthy and even ...

August 7 2023

Our theme this month is “Death Is the Memory of the Living.” What this means to me is the living carry the memories of both the life and death of their loved ones. Sometimes these memories are comf...

July 31 2023

To close out this month’s theme of “Yield to Your Grief Journey,” I invite you to let the words of this poem by Padraig Ó Tuama wash over you: To greet sorrow today does not mean that sorrow will ...

July 24 2023

As we’ve been talking about our theme “Yield to Your Grief Journey,” I’ve been encouraging movement toward grief. Please know that sometimes it’s okay to take a break from grief. In fact, the Dual ...

July 17 2023

As we continue with our theme of “Yield to Your Grief Journey,” I want to talk about the word yield. The etymology of the word yield is Old English: "to pay, pay for; reward, render; worship, serve...