100.
How to Live Forever
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.
To live on in the minds and hearts
Of the generations who will follow you
Is to cheat death.
“Impact” is one of my favorite 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 the 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 favorite movies):
“Everyone of us will die. But so few of us really live.” Perfect.