How to Be Remembered Forever

When we look at history, who is remembered?

Mitochondrial Eve- 200,000 years ago.

All humans trace to her. She is all of our great-great-great-and a bunch more great-grandmother.

She has a helluva time at Christmas time. She’s the one hoping that we all draw names out of a hat. And she’s not making any of us cookies.

We know nearly nothing about her. She lived in Africa. She may have lived as early as 152,000 years ago or as late as 234,000 years ago. The carnival guy at the fair has fits when he tries to guess her age.

She died and we don’t know how. Apparently she was very busy beforehand.

Buddha- 2500 years ago
Had a lot of followers, founded a religion, was possibly poisoned by a blacksmith.

Jesus- 2000 years ago
had a few followers, founded a religion, was crucified.

Ghengis Khan- died 784 years ago.
In his time, he was the ruler of half of the known world (that’d be the flat side.). He fathered hundreds, possibly thousands of children. He has millions of descendents, probably the largest number in modern history.

William Shakespeare- died 395 years ago.
Wrote a lot.

Jack the Ripper (made the papers about 123 years ago)
Raped and killed many ladies of the night. Terrorized London for a summer.

Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot
Practiced genocide. Well, they didn’t just practice it. They actually committed genocide.

Ghandi- Died 1947
brought independence to India
Assassinated.

John F Kennedy- died 1963
Founded the Peace Corps.
Assassinated.

Robert Kennedy- died 1968
Noted Civil Rights Activist
Assassinated.

Martin Luther King died 1964
Another Noted Civil Rights Activist
Assassinated.

Steve Jobs- died 2011
Co-founded Apple
Wore black turtlenecks
Died of cancer.

Want to be remembered forever?

Here’s how:

For women:
Populate a planet

For men:

Found a religion, be assassinated
Conquer half the world, have lots of sex
Write (a lot)
Rape and kill over a hot summer in Victorian England
Commit genocide
Be a civil rights leader, be assassinated.
Found a religion, wear black turtlenecks, die of cancer

All the people who lived alongside Ghengis Khan felt like their lives were vitally important. We don’t know their names or even how many of them there were. Billions of people, through history, are lost to memory.

Guess where we’re going!

Here’s the sad fact: people who were kinder than you, made more money than you, were more influential than you, did more for people than you ever will, were loved more than you, were in every way better than you, are lying forgotten in the ground.

They’re dust.

You will die. And everybody who knows you will die. And everybody who was told about you will die. The best you can hope for is a footnote in history. That funny story that you tell has a shelf life of 150 years tops.

Same for me.

When We Remember This

We make different choices.
Our work, our vital work becomes more important because we know that it has nothing to do with what people will remember. It becomes the subtle shaping of the world for posterity. Your name will fall away, but perhaps some echo of your deeds will stay.

Ultimately, who we are, what people know about us, it falls away.

What are the ramifications of this?

Well, whatever you’re doing right now, does it matter in the long run? the extremely long run?

The most important thing you do today might be recycling.

And are you having a good time?

And would you choose to live your life differently if you were dead and forgotten tomorrow?
In the context of time (6 billion years, and whatever happened before that), you will be.

If you are doing something for future generations (oh, like saving the planet), does it matter if you get credit for it?

Maybe if it increases your ability to do more things for future generations. I can see that.

But otherwise, does it matter?

Not really.

What about keeping up with the Joneses?

That idea becomes  hilarious, isn’t it?

What about what people think of you?

Today at the local grocery store, I was wearing some very high heels, and I slipped and fell. I did not fall in some attractive, romantic comedy, hey pick me up and take me home way. I was on the floor by the checkout, and let’s just say, I’m really happy I wore underwear today. My dress was not doing its job.

And after the adrenaline went away, I didn’t care in the least. Oh people saw me fall. People heard me fall. And it doesn’t matter. Put it on youtube. I am the honey badger. I don’t care.

What about being the best at something? Hey, I have no problem with perfection, but do it for the experience, not the outcome. The outcome has no stick to it.

What Matters?

When I remember that I will be forgotten, the paradox is that the people that I see every day become more precious. We have a finite amount of time together here.

And my behavior becomes more important because everything I have is finite. My choices are based on what really matters to me (Peace, Love, Spirituality, Humor, Sex and Ice Cream (no apparent order)).

Living for Today Kicks Ass.

What do you think? How does this impact you?

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