I’ve been thinking a lot lately about legacy.  It’s quite an unusual word, legacy.  Try saying it, or writing it, a few times and it becomes even more interesting.

 

Look it up in the Oxford Dictionary and it says …

  • an amount of money or property left to someone in a will.
  • something left or handed down by a predecessor

 

Money and property sound great!  But it’s really the second definition that I’ve been thinking about.

 

What really started me thinking about legacy was one of those slow realisations …

When I first started out in the seminar business a few years ago I used to write a regular “Gold Nugget”. 

And of course I had to write emails, sales letters, and all the normal things associated with running a business. 

Last year I was approached to write a chapter in a book, and then wrote my own book (it’s in draft form) … and I was being approached by magazines to write articles for them.

This year in particular I’ve been asked to write a LOT!  And I’ve been learning how to write better sales copy.  I’ll be honest with you, that one is not one of my favourites, in fact, it’s one of those things that I really need to practice!

My point is, I’m doing a lot of writing … which started me thinking … when and how did I learn to write?

And then I had another one of those realisations …

I talk about my Dad as my mentor.  He’s the one who started me in the property game … encouraged me to be entrepreneurial … opened the world for me … inspired me to be the best I can be …

But what about my Mum??  Where does she fit in all this …

Well, my legacy of writing is all about my Mum.

Let me explain …

Right from when I was born I had a book in my hands.  That was my Dad.  Long before I could read, he was buying me books.  I remember as a child, countless times, going to bed, and there would be a new book on my pillow.  This went on for years.  My Dad spent thousands of dollars buying me books.

But it was Mum who let me read them through the night, under the covers, with a torch.  Not until I was in my late teens did I realise that my mother was probably a more avid reader than my father.  In fact, even now, in her seventies, my Mum devours books.  She’s always reading something!

It was Mum who took us to the library day after day after day after day … after school, that’s where you’d find us.  Borrowing heaps of books.  Reading heaps of books.  Returning heaps of books.  Borrowing more books …

It was also Mum who taught me to write. 

My Dad had terrible handwriting – I was one of the few who could decipher it.  He wrote well though – if you could read it!

Mum, however, has beautiful handwriting.  As a small child, long before school, my Mum taught me to write.  We would be in Church every week, and she would write out the alphabet in her “running writing”. 

Yes, I know, you’re supposed to write “properly” before you do “running writing”, but I learnt the “proper” way in school much later!

I would sit quietly through Church, copying Mum’s script.  Don’t tell her, but I also learnt to copy her signature, which came in handy on an occasion or two during school when I forgot to get her to sign off my homework!

When I was nineteen, I went to live in the good old USA for a year, doing volunteer youth work.  Every Saturday afternoon my Mum would sit down and write me a letter.  Not a few words from my Mum.  Pages and pages of stories and news.  Reading it was just like being home.

And every Saturday, on the other side of the world, exactly one week later, I knew, without fail, that I would go to the letter box and there would be this letter from home.

So, today, I’d like to honour my Mum, and the legacy she’s given me. 

Being able to write …  Being able to tell stories …  Being able to string sentences and ideas together … Being able to inspire people …  Being able to move people through the written word …  What a legacy!

Who knows how much influence she will have, and how much she will change people’s lives – even YOURS – because of the legacy she has given me.

What legacy have you been given? 

Are you using yours to help others?  Are you inspiring people to bigger, better and greater things? 

Don’t waste your legacy … use it … make the world a better place … someone needs what you have TODAY!

You can start by leaving a comment below – share what legacy you have been left …

And stay tuned for part 2 … to whom much is given, much is expected, and it’s our responsibility to pass on a legacy …

Bless ya

Jen