Are you someone who has made poor choices and bad decisions in the past that has affected your life drastically today?
I've been there.
“The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” – William James
The choices we make today determine the outcome of our lives tomorrow. And the live we choose to live in our lifetime will determine the legacy we choose to leave behind for the next generation. You may have experienced making poor choices and bad decisions in the past that caused you to stumble and got you knocked off into a different course in your life. Or perhaps you may feel like you're too young or incompetent to make important decisions in your life. It's never too early nor too late to make the decision to live your life right—to live a life of significance and value that will not only benefit and positively affect your life but will impact and continue on the next generation and generations to come. What life do you choose to live and what legacy do you choose to leave? The choice is yours.
How Do I Live a Life of Legacy for the Next Generation?
Here's why our choices in life matter with 4 Fundamental Principles to help us live a life of legacy for the next generation:
Principle #1: The course of your life is determined by your choices.
Around 2010s, several acronyms and hashtags emerged as trends across social media platforms. One of which was YOLO (“You Only Live Once”), and I’m certain everyone is familiar with this. For many people, this means we have to live life to the fullest, indulging in the pleasures of life that are enjoyable, exciting, exhilarating, and thrilling, even if entails risk and danger. Often times, it comes from the premise of people’s fear of missing out in life that since we only live once, we couldn’t bear to miss out on some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and experiences. I believe that this is a concept that is often wrongly perceived. As what Mae West quoted, “You only live once, but if you live it right, once is enough.”
Personally, I’ve gone through things in my life based on my wrong perception of the concept of 'only living once'—risking myself towards situations that can harm me and permanently damage my life. Just like most people having the fear of missing out on things in life, I’ve always thought, “What could I lose?” To be honest, I lost years of my life in wrong choices, wrong people, wrong habits and behaviors. They were exciting and thrilling to experience, and quite frankly, I had the most fun in my life in those times. But what is hours of fun to a lifetime of regret? Not everything that seems or feels good is good for you. The same way that not everything that seems bad is bad for you. Vices may seem good and enjoyable but it’s not good for us and our physical body. For a brief moment in our lives, it may give us pleasure, but it could cause permanent damage in our lives—physically, mentally, spiritually, and even financially. Just as discipline and correction may seem bad and hurtful for a brief moment, but it prevents us from a lifetime of pain and regret.
It’s never too early nor too late to be mindful of the daily choices and decisions we make in our lives. I am blessed to have known Jesus and have found my God-given purpose, changed inside and out, and turned 180 degrees away from my past life of bad decisions and choices earlier in life. And as I am in my early 20s, it’s never too early for me to live right and live a life of purpose. Even in the things that seem insignificant, I believe that our choices will make or break us. I have made a decision to eat healthy as young as I am, knowing my family has a hereditary line of hypertension—why would I enjoy eating unhealthy food, wait until I’m in my 40s, and until I experience life-threatening symptoms before changing into healthy eating habits, when I could start right now? The outcome of our lives is determined by the choices we make everyday. Our choice today affects our life tomorrow. To live a life of significance and value is matter of choice. We only live once. Make it count! What’s the kind of life you want to live?
“Everything in your life is a reflection of a choice you have made. If you want a different result, make a different choice.” — Anonymous
Principle #2: Your choices affect you, your generation, and generations after you.
My surname, Lacson, has had a lot of history in the past and is one of the most common surnames in the Philippines. Although we’re associated with prominent, powerful, and influential figures in the history of our clan, it’s also a known notion that men from this clan are adulterers or associated with infidelity. I experienced this firsthand from my immediate family down to generations before that. My late father passed before I was even born, but from the stories I heard, he was one of the kindest people ever. He’s always known to have been a good person, so much so that during his funeral, the place couldn’t contain the amount of people who came to mourn for his loss and those people stayed even though they fell short with food to serve—that’s how loved he was. But his only problem was women. It was his greatest downfall, and quite literally, it's what ultimately led to his passing. Generations before him, the same stories. We can’t fully trace back how this generational curse and trauma started. But because of one person’s choice to become a bad example to emulate, it did not only affect that person’s life, but that person’s family, entire generation, and generations to come.
One of the best decisions I have made in my life was to accept Jesus as my Lord and my Savior, and to serve Him all the days of my life. And I believe that the generational curse in my life is broken—it starts with me and my future family. Our Pastor recently shared two stories about two different families with two different fates. Upon my further research, I discovered this:
In the 1700s, a study was done of two households.
Max Dukes and his wife were ungodly drunks, adulterers and thieves. Of their 1026 descendants who were traced, 300 died prematurely; 150 were known criminals; 100 averaged 13 years in jail; 17 were murderers; 60 were prostitutes; 100 were drunks and 310 died in absolute poverty. The family cost the state $1,200,000. They made no helpful contribution to society.
The other household consisted of Jonathan Edwards and his wife. They loved and honored God and taught His Word to the family. Of their 1029 descendants who were traced, 300 were preachers; 65 were college professors; 13 were university presidents; 295 were college graduates; 16 wrote books; 30 were judges; 3 were US congressmen; 75 were navy officers; 60 were doctors; 100 were lawyers and became a US vice-president. The family has not cost the state a single dollar.
Edward’s decision to honor and serve God and choice to make a difference in his generation, clearly didn’t just affect his life in his whole lifetime, but built a lasting legacy, continuing and perpetuating God’s purpose that positively affected generations after him. We are free to make choices in life, but we are not free from the consequences of our choices. Our choices matter. How do you want to impact your future generation?
"What one generation tolerates, the next generation embraces" — John Wesley
Principle #3: The legacy you leave is determined by the life you choose to live.
The life you choose to live today determines the legacy you will leave for the future generations. You cannot get a redo for the choices you make in life. It’s not too late to make it right, but some choices and decisions you make in life have consequences that you cannot run from, and you must endure. We can only get one shot in life and how we choose to live the life we have been given by God is crucial. If we waste it on wrong choices and decisions, it could not only harm us but ultimately destroy us.
Let me tell you this story about two brothers who were raised by an alcoholic father. One grew up to be an alcoholic and when asked what happened, he said, "I watched my father". The other grew up and never drunk once and when asked why, he said, "I watched my father". It’s all about our perspective and choice to live our lives the way we want the outcome to be. We cannot change our circumstances or situations, but we can change the outcome. The outcome of our lives is determined by the choices we make each and every day. And the legacy that we leave for the generations after us depends on those choices. Only we can choose what legacy we want to leave behind and it starts with how we choose to live our lives right now. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. Don’t wait until it’s too late. What legacy do you want to leave behind?
“It is up to us to live based on the legacy that was left behind for us, and to leave our own that is worthy of our children, their children, and their children’s children.” — Christine Gregoire
Principle #4: Your legacy will speak of your life throughout generations.
When you think of Elon Musk, instantly comes to mind? At the top of my head are the words entrepreneur, innovator, and Tesla. What comes to mind when you see a logo of an apple, a check, a big yellow ‘M’, a red and blue domino? I’m sure you see a picture in your head of the Apple company, Nike, McDonald’s, and Domino’s Pizza. Here’s another question. If people think of you, what would they say about you? If a logo speaks of its company, what would your life speak of? The legacy you will leave will speak of the life you live.
Live your life with significance and value that will impact the generations after you. It’s not just about the achievements or accomplishments you will ever acquire or reach, but it’s about the imprint and impact you leave in the future—the lives you’ve touched, the people you’ve reached out to, the values you possess, the character you hold, and the life you have lived—that continues on for generations. Our legacy doesn’t end when we pass, but rather passed on to the next generation. How would you want to be remembered? If we were to pass away tomorrow, what would you be known for? What value are you adding to the next generation?
“Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people.” — Peter Strople
Let us be mindful of every choice and decision we make each day. The story of our legacy is being written by every choice we make in living our everyday lives. Our legacy is tied to our God-given purpose. Choose to live right and choose to live according to your purpose in life. The life we live here on earth is not measured by its length, but by its effectivity and impact, fulfilling what we're purposed to do—it's the legacy that you will leave for the next generation.
May what you learned today be engraved in your hearts that as we navigate through our life choices, we remember what life we want to live and what legacy we want to leave for our generation and generations to come. Do share your heart and thoughts in the comments and I would like to hear your stories as well. See you on the next blog post!
Sending love,
Coleene.
Read the previous blog post here: Overcoming Adversity: Strategies to Thrive in Times of Crisis
"But what is hours of fun to a lifetime of regret? Not everything that seems or feels good is good for you. The same way that not everything that seems bad is bad for you." Very timely, thank you so much for this mym!! 🫶🏻
Make every day count! Word!! 🙌🏻💯