Have you thought about the legacy you'll someday leave? You are currently living your legacy. How you live your life becomes your legacy. 

How you live your life will be your legacy.

As Merle Saferstein was preparing for retirement from her role at the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center, she posed a list of 25 questions to herself. She used the list to evaluate what would provide supplemental income, what would fuel her passions, and what would help her make a difference in the world. Doing this exercise to determine who she was going to be in retirement led her to confidently know what the next chapter was going to be. Her goal was to write a book, teach, speak, and volunteer.

One day while journaling, the word legacy came to mind. And that is how Merle merged her experience working with Holocaust survivors and journaling to create the Living and Leaving Your Legacy Program which she teaches and speaks about.

Living and leaving your legacy

How you live your life becomes your legacy. Even if you never do anything like write a book, or document your life, you will be remembered for how you lived your life. It is important to note that it is not what you say but what you do that is important. People watch you and learn from you all the time. 

Merle recommends that as soon as someone you love dies, write down as many memories as you can think of so that you always have those memories. Creating videos is also a great way to preserve someone's legacy. Ask questions in an interview format or simply let them speak. But do it now.

There is power in writing down memories. Merle emphasized that there is also power in writing a dialogue between you and another person if you aren't ready to talk about things. You can also write a letter in your journal.

Robyn emphasized that when you write, you change the neuropathways in your brain. Therefore, if you can get your thoughts out of your head onto paper, you will be more likely to change the negative thoughts and feelings to positive ones. Changing your thoughts and emotions will also change your behaviors and actions.

Merle shared that if you are afraid to write certain thoughts and feelings in your journal, write them on a piece of paper to at least get them out of your mind. Then, you can have a little ceremony of tearing the paper, burning it, or something to get rid of it.

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