Is Your Life Worth Noting?

I came across this "exercise" in my course and found it to be both challenging and inspiring. Hopefully it does the same for you as it's done for me...and hopefully you won't think it's too morbid :) Sometimes it's really important to think about these things and to ask the tough questions that we'd rather not ask in the first place.

An Exercise by Stephen Covey to Discover Life Purpose (The Seven Habits, page 96):

"Picture yourself going to the funeral of a loved one. As you walk inside the building you notice the flowers, the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family you pass along the way. You feel the shared sorrow of losing, the joy of having known, that radiates from the hearts of the people there. As you walk down to the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to face with yourself. This is your funeral, three years from today. All these people have come to honour you, to express feelings of love and appreciation for your life.

As you take a seat and wait for the service to begin, you look at the program in your hand. There are four speakers. The first is from your family. The second is one of your friends. The third is from your work. And the fourth is from your church.

Now think deeply. What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What kind of husband, wife, father, or mother would you like their words to reflect? What kind of son or daughter or cousin? What kind of friend? What kind of working associate? What character would you like them to have seen in you? What contributions or achievements would you want them to remember? Look carefully at the people around you. What difference would you like to have made in their lives?"