“Everything Fades Away….”
I love that song… Was listening to this number by the Poets Of The Fall on my way to work today.
And somehow, the thought got stuck in my head. My professor, Sudhakar Solomon Raj (SSR) used to tell us to ask ourselves one question: ‘What difference will it make to the world if you die today.”
He asked us not to think of family and friends who will mourn our passing away. He asked us to look at the larger picture.
What will be missed?
And I wonder… What have I given to the world?
Have I been a good person? Will I be remembered by people other than family?
What will I be remembered for? Will anyone remember my name a decade after I’m gone? Will my day of death mean anything to anyone after my family has passed on?
Not yet, I believe. I haven’t done enough to be remembered for anything beyond personal affections. I won’t get an obituary unless my family posts one in the newspapers for me. No one will write about me in a column or tell others about me as a person or as a professional. I won’t be quoted.
I haven’t done enough yet.
There’s a lot more to do.
I want to be remembered for long after I’m gone. In my field, my industry, I want to be an icon. I want to be an example. So when I die, I want my work to live on in the minds of people. Every time someone talks of good television shows in India, I want my work mentioned.
Its ambitious but these are the things I want to be remembered for. So when you Google my name, I’d want more than just my social networks and blog to pop up in the results.
Because, let’s face it, once your kids become grand parents, they will probably be the last people who’ll remember you… Once they’re gone, everything about you will fade to dust. Your last memories will die with the people who knew you.
If I want to be remembered after that, I must leave a mark on the world. And there’s a long way to go for that to happen… At the end of this road, I don’t want everything to fade to dust…
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well said miilee..! super likes for this post..!! hope atleast people vl remember ur blog.. 🙂
By: sharath on January 7, 2012
at 7:47 pm
To be frank, I find this view a little too…grand.
I’m sure that at some point of time you must have received a Forward which asks us to recollect the five most wealthiest people in the world, or the last ten people who won a Nobel Prize. And compare that to your memory with respect to other “little” things, like – five friends who helped you through tough times, five people who taught you something worthwhile, five people who you like spending time with, etc.
I think that sometimes people get carried away by this notion of equating “achievement” or the sense of having “done something (worthwhile)” to professional excellence which is only “there” if it’s on a large scale. Which means (popular) awards, fame, the whole sense of people “knowing” about your “presence”.
When you ask that question ‘What difference will it make to the world if you die today?’ what you’re probably overlooking is the fact that your ‘real’ world is your family and friends.
All of us give to the world by influencing our immediate surroundings – the people in our lives. All these great people you aspire to become like – they had such parents, friends, teachers, spouses who helped them become what they are.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to be the best in whatever we do. Maybe you’re confusing trying to excel in whatever we do with merely accomplishments (which actually the by-product).
Remember, greatness is never really planned for – those who left their mark didn’t really set that as one of their targets. They were simply darn good at what they did.
What’s the big deal about being remembered a long while after you’re gone anyway? I mean, there are over 7 billion people on this planet at any given point.
(P.S. I realize that this ‘comment’ has run long enough to become a post in itself.)
By: Vijitha on January 7, 2012
at 10:54 pm
Well, you do have a point.. but I guess it depends from person to person… I want to be remembered long after I’m gone! I want to do something of that magnitude! I dont want the whole world to know me, perhaps, but if a certain field of people, or a certain industry remembers me from time to time, I’d be glad… doesn’t mean that I become a bad person to the people who’re my own today! Family and friends do count! but in a way, I want my generations to come to feel proud of being my descendants! Call it over ambitious, or extremely needy, but that’s who i want to be…
By: miilee on January 8, 2012
at 8:09 pm
Amen ! If this is what you work for , this will be true 🙂
Although it does depend from person to person. If you ask me, I will always remember some of your stories ! ALWAYS !
here’s wishing you loads of luck and success with your goals ..
By: ladynimue on January 10, 2012
at 12:12 am
Thank you soooooooo much!! *Hugs*
I’m glad you like my writing THAT much!!
By: miilee on January 10, 2012
at 12:16 am