Do you ever wonder who will miss you when you’re gone? Since I was away from my family for 4 weeks at guide dog school’ I got to thinking about it. It’s a topic worthy of consideration.
The most obvious people at the top of the list is, of course, family. My family missed me terribly. The feeling was mutual. Even the cats were stressed out. John said he missed our conversations, cuddling and laughing with me. He especially missed our coffee dates where we have bigger picture thinking and planning. Nathan missed my hugs and other displays of my love. David said he missed all of me.
They certainly came to appreciate all the work I do as a homemaker. None of them really understood how much work it takes to run a household. In fact, John was seriously whupped when I got back. Being a single parent is tough.
Hopefully, our life’s influence goes beyond just our family, though. Really, who will miss you when you’re gone? Whose lives have you touched and whose lives do you continue to touch to such an extent that they would be sad to see you go? How about your neighbors or your coworkers?
Have you made an effort to insert yourself into the lives of other people? Making a real difference in the lives of other people requires that kind of determination. At the end of our lives, I don’t think we will be satisfied with just touching lives that we just happened to run into . So, I’m thinking that we’ll need to get really focused and deliberate if we are going to be satisfied with the quality and quantity of our impact.
I encourage you to take some time to evaluate who will miss you when you’re gone. If you’re not satisfied, with your answer, you can start thinking about what kind of impact you want to make and whose lives you want to change for the better. In the end, you’ll be glad you did.
