I was talking to my grandmother the other day and she started talking, as grandmothers often do, about the span of her life and what she wants people to remember when she is gone. She said, “I may not be rich, but I’m going to be proud of my dash.” She was talking about the “dash” that is placed between the years when someone passes away. For example, my grandfather lived from 1932 – 2004, and the dash between his birth and death year was full of precious time with family, side-splitting laughter, and amazing trips around the world. I began to think of what I wanted my dash to represent. When I leave this earth, do I want it to be as if I had never existed? I realized that in actuality, I am constantly thinking about my dash, and how my life’s purpose should always be to help others in some way so I know that my life meant something. On Bryan Peabody’s blog, I find some anecdotal inspiration in this regard:
“…it matters not, how much we own: The cars, the house, the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.”
In today’s Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog, “If I Only Knew Then”, J. Maya Iwata encourages us to “take action now so your time is well spent”. She also offers guidance on how to stay focused on the things that are most important to you:
- Develop patterns, or habits, that reinforce an alignment between your actions and what is most important to you. Creating patterns for yourself will help you to sustain your efforts and manage energy. These habits should be enjoyable; otherwise it is likely that you will stop or resent them. Life is relatively short, so why sign up for suffering voluntarily?
- Take 5 minutes out of every day (and make sure it’s every day!) to plan how you will act on what’s important to you. Follow through on these values each week. Stop postponing joy! For example, if you would like to be a writer, then make time to write now. Don’t wait until you retire!
Doing my part to change the world is very important to me. This is why I work in the nonprofit sector. I get so much satisfaction from working for a greater good to help improve life in what can often be a very cold world. Knowing that nonprofit work enables positive change makes up for all the long hours we all put in. I know that I’m never going to be rich as a nonprofit leader, but I sure want to be proud of my dash.
What will your dash represent?
