A few weeks ago I read a post by Jerry Baker over at LeadershipFromTheTrenches.com about this idea:
Recently, our team hosted the annual Building Champions Experience, where over two hundred people came together in a tranquil setting and experience Life Planning. For many, it was a life-changing experience. Near the end of this four-day event, one attendee revealed how the eulogy process had pointed out areas where there were clear deficits in his life, and that he needed to refocus and make changes. The testimony was powerful.
For me, there are two guiding principles and one overarching consideration for determining where I am going and how I am doing. These principles are “doing things right” and “doing the right thing,” all the time. These principles are coupled with the importance of considering other people in whatever I do or accomplish.
Our careers and personal lives can be hectic and demanding. We have many choices and often we must juggle competing priorities. It is more critical than ever that we know our real priorities, and manage our time purposefully (rather than be managed by it) around those priorities.
Each of us is writing our own eulogy every day, whether we are aware of it or not. If we start now, we still have time to make that eulogy truly reflect what is important to us.
What a powerful and life-changing idea. Take advantage of it. (source)
As a pastor I’ve been to a lot of funerals over the years and will probably go to a lot more. I’ve been at some where person after person after person came up to the podium to talk about how great their family member/friend/colleague is. I’ve also been at funerals where people were scrounging to come up with SOMETHING nice to say. These are the most depressing to me.
As morbid as it is to talk about our pending death I think it’s healthy to give it some thought from time to time. Everyone ends up somewhere in life, but not a lot of people end up there on purpose. I hope you’ll be one of the few that gets to where you really want to go.
What do you hope that people will say (and really mean) at your funeral? Post your thoughts below.
PS – For more help with this idea check out these books:
Jeff McClung 