I Had to Write My Own Obituary
I was troubled at points in my life. I was looking for advice. I was searching for solutions. I turned to some books for tips to remove my disappointments. I stumbled upon a book titled Unbeatable Mind. The book was written by Mark Divine, a man who knows much about mental resiliency through his time in the military. Well, I made it to page 35 and was instructed to perform the daunting task of writing my own obituary. Now obviously we cannot write our own when death comes for us, but what would you want to see written about you? In his words, what do you want to be remembered for?
I wrote my own obituary that night. It took some serious contemplation, but as stressed as I was about my life, I found that putting the pen to paper was fluid and easy. My thoughts and dreams went all over the paper and when it was done. I sat back and read the one page that changed my perception on life. You see, when you write the obituary, you must try to think of yourself as a longtime friend who knew you well. When you do that, you start to identify some of your personal flaws, because you say to yourself "Well, this sounds good on paper, but it's not really me. It doesn't show who I really am." For example, if you're a quiet person, you can't honestly write about how you were the life of the party scene.
So I challenge you to write your own obituary. Try to make it a reasonable length for an obituary (mine was a full page), and put some serious thought into it. Maybe this exercise will help you define a new goal. Maybe it will make you aware of some major flaws. Whatever the case, what you write is who you want to be and what you wish to be remembered for. You can write about your job, write about your relationships with people, and write about your accomplishments. When you're done, start working to be the person that you want to be. Put this in a safe place and open it up every couple of months to give yourself a reality check.
So, What do you want to be remembered for?
Divine, Mark. "Section 1." Unbeatable Mind: Forging Mental Toughness. 3rd ed. United States: Mark Divine, 2015. N. pag. Print.