Your DASH! What legacy are you going to leave?

I was able to celebrate my 23^rd birthday yesterday. As people asked me how old I was I kept saying, “Twenty three, still just a baby.” I kept telling me over and over again. Having an attitude of there is SO much time left for live.

Hopefully, I have lived 1/4th of my life, and still have a lot of time to live. Regardless, every second counts.

Elder Uchtdorf said,"When we are young, it seems that we will live forever. We think there is a limitless supply of sunrises waiting just beyond the horizon, and the future looks to us like an unbroken road stretching endlessly before us.

However, the older we get, the more we tend to look back and marvel at how short that road really is. We wonder how the years could have passed so quickly. And we begin to think about the choices we made and the things we have done. In the process, we remember many sweet moments that give warmth to our souls and joy to our hearts. But we also remember the regrets—the things we wish we could go back and change." (Of Regrets and Resolutions, Elder Uchtdorf)

As I have thought of life, wow, what a precious’s gift it is. It is truly a gift.

I heard this poem a few years ago and it has stuck with me:

​The Dash

By Linda Ellis, 1996

​I read of a man who stood to speak

at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on the tombstone

from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth

and spoke the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all

was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

that they spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved them

know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

the cars…the house…the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

to consider what’s true and real

and always try to understand

​the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we’ve never loved before. 

If we treat each other with respect

and more often wear a smile,

remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

​So, when your eulogy is being read,

with your life’s actions to rehash…

would you be proud of the things they say

about how you spent YOUR dash?

Does your life reflect who you really are? If your dash isn’t all you want it to be, change it! Life is too short and too precious to spend it obsessing about our negative qualities, the worries of tomorrow, our weight, our clothes, and all our other worldly things.

What legacy do you want to leave?

What do you want to be remembered for?

What is your tombstone going to say? -Don’t just think about it, write it out! I am being so serious. Write what is going to be on your tombstone.

Your dash is your legacy! It is what you want to be remembered for. Your dash is something that you need to remember and refer to on a DAILY basis. So write out what your legacy is/ what your tombstone will say and go live your dream. Be you!

Much love,

Rachel