220 – Your Life, Your Legacy, Your Responsibility. - a podcast by Alf Herigstad

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Your Life, Your Legacy, Your Responsibility…
From time to time I talk about legacy on this show—and today is one of those days.  If a man becomes mindful of his legacy every day then being a better man becomes second nature.  It happens without even thinking about it. I’m thinking about this today because of the weekend I just had.  I just got back from a camping trip with my family, which is why I am posting this so late on Monday…because I wasn’t home.
On this camping trip there was myself, my wife, four of my grand children, my nephew, my son-in-law, and my 81 year old father.  There were nine of us all together.  We went to a camp site up on Chinook Pass in Washington State, on the white river.  It was a great, relaxing time for everyone, we had great food, we panned for gold and went fishing, we played in the freezing cold river and found interesting things and played games around the camp fire.   I helped my dad walk across the river, and stopped with him when he needed to rest.  We told stories, and laughed, and shared experiences. I brought knives for the kids to whittle wood with and I made the best pancakes I have ever eaten.All of that was wonderful, and fun, but these are not the most important things that happened.  Behind and in between all of this the important things that happened this weekend are that memories were made that will last a lifetime.  Bonds of relationship were forged and strengthened.  We all learned new things about ourselves, and about each other.  We learned about how we all fit together as a family.  These are priceless things, precious, valuable things.  These are vital components that are required in order to create a legacy that will endure and be of some benefit to the generations that follow you. 
I have been mindful of my legacy for several years now, it has become a habit.  In everything I do I consider what impact it will have on my descendants.  When I make something, I imagine what some future grandchild I have never met will feel when they hold it.  How will they feel when they hold it and know it was made with my hands, from my imagination. When I record podcasts, I imagine my future descendants are going to listen to it and I want it to be helpful to them.  Not just because of the content, but because it will give them insight into their own self, because they came from me.  I think a persons identity is subconsciously influenced by knowing where and who they came from.  I have a responsibility to give my descendants something good to hang onto.
The same is true of what I write.  I often imagine some distant member of my progeny 100 years in the future picking up my book, Forging A Man, going through the stories and discovering new parts of themselves in the pages.  Then I imagine them being improved as a result of that discovery.  I believe that being concerned with legacy has made me a better man, because it elevates and illuminates the purpose of my life on a daily basis.I believe this is how our species improves and grows over time.  Each new generation using the legacy left for them by prior generations as handholds, to pull themselves up with.  Then each new generation can build upon that legacy and create new legacies for their own progeny.
I am compelled to talk about legacy on this show from time to time because I know that many people simply do not think about it at all.  Or, they think it’s only something for old men to be concerned with.  I could not disagree more with that.  I started thinking about it in my late teens.  That’s unusual I admit, but either I’m just wired that way or it was because I was grateful and aware of the legacy that was left for me.  To me it showed up like an obligation for a man, to leave a good legacy for his descendants.  I felt I could never be a good man if I didn’t start thinking about it, over time it became a habit.I realize that some of...

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