Leaving a Legacy—Why Is That Important?

When you are young one of the last things you are thinking about is leaving a legacy.  Your focus is on the here and now—the living you are trying to make and the lifestyle you are eager to create.  What if there was a way to also create a legacy that you probably wouldn’t even notice?  There is!  Did you know that if you began investing a dollar a day when you are 21, you will have every opportunity to give over $20,000 to support a cause and something you believe in during your lifetime?  And when your investment combines with the investments of others, the power of working together makes a difference.

Entrusted Legacy gives you a way to make a difference in the lives of youth by seeing to it that the adults who work with them are well prepared to be a positive role model and mentor.  Every investment of $60 has the potential of reaching over 300 youth, and that is a conservative estimate of the ripples that are set in motion.  Begin building your legacy today.  Invest on our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org 

“Do As I Say”?

Thanks to an article posted by Elyse Bruce on April 12, 2010 we have a history of the phrase,

“Do as I say, not as Ido.”  

  Here’s what she shares: 

“This is an admonitory phrase that has been used by parents the world over for generations and yet, very few people seem to know its origins.  In the Spectator on June 24, 1911, this advice was published:  “It has always been considered allowable to say to children, ‘Do as I say, rather than as I do.’”

This phrase, however, harkens back to several generations before 1911.  In John Selden’s book Table Talk which was published posthumously in 1689 (and written in 1654 just prior to his death), he wrote:  ”Preachers say, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’  And while the advice is sound, he was not the first author to offer it.  In 1546, John Heywood’s “A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue“ the following can be found:  “It is as folke dooe, and not as folke say.”

However, the Anglo-Saxons in the 12th Century were known to say:  “Ac theah ic wyrs do thonne ic the lære ne do thu na swa swa ic do, ac do swa ic the lære gyf ic the wel lære” which translates into:   “Although I do worse than I teach you, do not do as I do, but do as I teach you if I teach you well.”

However, when all is said and done, this saying can be traced all the way back to the Bible in the Book of St. Matthew (verses 1-3) where the King James Version states: “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples saying  “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”

As a reflective person I have to ask myself, “Do I walk my talk?”  Of course the answer is “Not always”, but when it comes to being a positive role model and mentor for youth, I believe that I do this in my direct interactions with youth but also by helping to prepare role models and mentors for their work with youth.  Please join be by investing in the mission of Entrusted Legacy.  You can find out about our work at www.entrustedlegacy.org

What’s Your Point of View?

What are you passionate about?  What is it that you want to accomplish?  I saw a clever license plate the other day and it shared this message:

LV♥NLOL

After pondering the message for a while, I realized it said, “Live, Love, and Laugh Out Loud.”  I would agree with this sentiment, but I would also want to add “LAL” or Leave a Legacy.  I think it is important that each of us leave the world better than when we arrived, in other words leave a legacy that will support the realization of possibilities in our fellow humans. 

Entrusted Legacy has a passion to ensure that everyone has a positive role model and mentor.  When I reflect on my own life I think about those special people who acted as a guide for me simply by being who they were and then being willing to share that with me.  They expected nothing in return and took pleasure from being the mentor and role model that I needed.  Entrusted Legacy strives to ensure that those who are in a position to be that positive role model and mentor, those who work with youth in the space afterschool, are well prepared to take the helm.  If you don’t have time to be a mentor yourself, leave a legacy that will support both the mentor and the mentee.  Contact us at support@centrustedlegacy.org or visit our website for more information.  www.entrustedlegacy.org