Column

To live on in the minds and hearts of the generations who will follow you is to cheat death. To make such a difference through the way you lead and show up is to find immortality. To have a lasting impact on human lives — by being a great champion at work or a great parent at home or a great leader in your community — is to live forever.

“Impact” is one of my favourite words these days. So is “legacy.” Greatness comes by beginning something that doesn’t end with you. So stop worrying about death. Care more about life. What you will create today. What contribution you will make today. What person you will celebrate today. What fear you will beat today. What act of kindness you will offer today. What social ill you will remedy today. What wrong you will right today.

I love these words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “There is no situation that is not transformable. There is no person who is hopeless. There is no set of circumstances that cannot be turned about by human beings and their natural capacity for love of the deepest sort.”

To paraphrase Mel Gibson’s character in Braveheart (one of my all-time favourite movies): “Every one of us will die. But so few of us really live.” Perfect.