What will you leave when you leave?

Sooner or later you will leave this place we call Earth and head off onto the next great adventure. Who knows what that adventure will be...but lets assume for just one minute that you will be given a chance to take a good look at the life you have lived and be asked the question - now do you want to go back down there and live that life all over again, or are there one or two changes you would make?

I would say that few if any of us would be happy enough to live our entire lives - over - in exactly the same way again.

But before you can make the decision, you are given a box. Inside that box is a collection of things. These things will vary of course from person to person...but in general terms, there will be love letters you've written and received. The children's school photos and certificates of merit. Your school photos and certificates of merit. A bank statement or two - with the donations circled in green, and the balance in red or black (your choice). Letters of commendation from your employers and letters of thanks from your employees. Pictures of things you've created, and piles of journals that contain the stories of your life.

You're given time to reflect on how much or how little is in your box, and then you notice another box sitting to one side. Curiosity gets the better of you and you ask - what's in the box.

The answer is disturbing.

The box contains nothing.

Nothing?

Nothing. You see - that box contains all the wasted opportunities you had to make a difference and you chose not to make the decisions you knew you needed to make. So, in effect the box contains nothing.

Every time you turned down a business opportunity - it became nothing.
Every time you missed a chance to be with your children.
Every time you were given the chance to read a book and you didn't, preferring to watch the day time soap operas instead - your personal development stopped happening.
Every time you spent hours gossiping with "friends" you lost time to work on yourself and your goals.

That box contains nothing because you chose the life you lived.

Would you be able to look at those boxes and be satisfied you'd done your best?

Comments

[Laure]

This is lovely, and very thought provoking. I wanted to cry when I thought about my empty box. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work on filling that empty box.

[Elle]

Hi Laure
Thank you. Sometimes I think my box has a hole in the bottom - every time I think it's being filled with good things, I remember all the things I haven't managed to do yet.
Best regards
Elle