Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI
Senior Member
Username: rliebing
Post Number: 1041
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 07:08 am: |    |
09-0819
NO. 45
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LEGACY
by Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI, Cincinnati, OH
I think it is something we need to keep in mind, but not necessarily profoundly every moment of the day! We owe something to the future and those around us who will be influenced by what we are and what we do.
Of course, first and foremost is your family and children. They are so close that they will gain or suffer in inordinate ways from what we are and do. The time, effort, and money we spend on, for, with or on their behalf will impact, directly and heavily on them-- good, bad and indifferent-- and indeed their future and their legacy. Such it has been for generations and will continue. In fact, not so much about family or responsibilities you’re well aware of. It is about your other overall legacies!
Some hints from personal experiences. I practice each day with some students I had in the ‘70s and I can easily see how they do things much as I expounded on back then-- impact and legacy! An e-mail from a junior colleague of some twelve years ago indicating he “found me”, was asking a question, and ended by thanking me for the technical sessions we presented during our lunch hours that gave him a deeper founding in construction knowledge augmenting his well-developed computer skills. And webinar reply from a student 27 years removed.
While in varying degrees, my books still sell, and publishers still “tolerate” my proposals and see fit to publish my work-- impact and legacy. Just find a topic you love and are immersed in. I was asked how/when I work and still write-- simple, have a herd of dogs to watch who don’t talk much, quiet house [family away] and simply “download”. An absolute joy [‘course, you got to love to BS, too!]. Oh, you can take it with you but sharing and leaving it will yield greater, lasting benefit! Much “old stuff” is well worth saving!! Oh, yea—don’t quit your day job!
Your similar circumstances are more than likely closer, more abundant and daily happenings, if you stand a minute and think about them. Each question you answer for a junior staffer adds a plank to your legacy. Each contribution you make in a department meeting or even a client meeting is still another plank-- another point of your legacy in the form of what you do that impacts, influences or changes others—or just makes them think more clearly.
What you carry in your head as routine operations, or in your attaché as notes, is part of the legacy you are developing as you go. You do not operate in isolation, and spooky as it sounds, you are always being watched! In silence, those all around you-- above, below and on the same level-- are touched by your words, actions, example and thoughts. Much is gained from what you do; what you do not do; how you do it; your attitude, your dedication to proper action; your demeanor; and yes, to what you did wrong, what did not work for you, and other circumstances that are best avoided [by virtue of what others saw happen to you].
Legacy is not necessarily a thought process [although some people like Presidents seek a planned legacy] but one of simply doing your total work. A giggling granddaughter held high above your head, or walking and holding your hand is as much legacy as a junior staffer’s question answered nicely, fully, and helpfully. Doing a little more; giving extra are good too. Most of us are decent folks from the get-go, so no worry, our legacy will be a decent trail of deeds done, thoughts thought and words spoken, or actions taken without thought of reward.
To paraphrase the Golden Rule, “Do your legacy in a manner similar to the legacies left to you”-- those from those many, many sources; some you remember, some you don’t, but they impacted you any way! Legacy may be “old stuff” and old ways, but it is still neat to look back on—and today’s glitzy and shiny is tomorrow’s legacy! |
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