The idea of dying - legacy's

I know this is my second thread in 10 mins however.

Somthing i saw got me thinking, what do you think about dying, about death, the space you leave the people you knew.

Is it such a big deal, i mean that if you wernt the prime minister, president, pope would you really care about you not being in the world any more? Would those people care and if they knew you and cared how much would they really think of you or miss you.

The reason i bring this up is my grandfather was very dear to me and passed nearly 10 years ago - how often to i honestly remember him? Not as much as i should. So thats what got me thinking, when i die who is going to think of me and how often - would i even leave them a legacy of money or information? And when they use that money or intel how often might they remember where it came from?

Im in no rush to die, but i do wonder, who will care and for how long when im gone?

Am i just being a strange paranoid or do you have comments?

a reply to: Biigs

I hope you will allow me to offer purely random thoughts. They are not directed at you, and they are certainly not critical of you.

We won't be remembered. Try naming half of the American Presidents, or 20 leaders of the world's 200 nations. How many of us remember the names of our Great-Grandparents?

The only things that will be remembered of us (unless there is a mechanical aid of some sort) will be a few mental images, maybe a joke or two, a general impression.

When we're young and looking for employment and a spouse, other peoples' opinions of us seem crucial. When we're older, it doesn't matter nearly as much. We can do what we please without paying any attention to what people think of us. When we're dead? The only way anyone's opinion or memory of us will matter to us then is if the Christians are right, and there is a God.

If that's the case, we'll discover that His opinion is the only one that ever mattered.

P.s. A legacy? My belief is that I should give away all of my knowledge as soon as I practically can. When I die, I will have told family and friends everything I thought worth passing on. In a sense, ATS is part of my legacy.

Money? If I ever have any, the same principle will apply. Share it quickly.

a reply to: charles1952

agreed.

Perhaps people just place too much value on their hope to be remembered. This is a confusing subject and i appreciate your post.

I will no doubt change it at some time so while this is my sig at the moment I'll post the excerpt here too:

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

A Psalm of Life ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I've thought about legacy before and for me I can't think of much better than the potential of a good, free school. It is however distinctly possible I may not be be able to achieve that though so as a more practical backup I just try to tread carefully through life bearing those two stanzas in mind in the hope then that while I may not even be able to help anyone at least I might not screw things up too much.. and you never know.

As far as any personal aspect I don't really see... I mean do ideas or acts of significance really suffer any consequence because of the particular individual who committed them? Isn't the question of who a largely unimportant technicality when considered against what is left behind? Whether committed by A or B an act which benefits the world does just that, an act that impoverishes us does just that doesn't it?

Is it of any real consequence that we don't know who first harnessed fire or invented the wheel?

a reply to: JAK

That was a very pleasant and thought filled post, thank you.

Long ago accepted dying .. along with the reality that most likely will die alone when the time comes .. not worried as doubt be missed much less remembered after am gone . its but one step on the journey to enightenment and doesnt matter if am remembered or not as will have moved on with the journey... its my curse to live ..

isnt a death somthing to be celebrated?

but for how long? How long is "acceptable"?

How long are you obliged to care? does it really matter if your sad for a week or a month or a year?

Exactly how sad are you meant to be at a loss of that magnitude? They would almost certainly want you do live your own and not pine for them, yet if you dont you feel guilty.

Love storys: "our's will die with us, as it should" - hazel grace - fault in our stars (movie quite excellent btw)

a reply to: Biigs

Have you ever seen the movie "Powder"?

originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: Biigs

Have you ever seen the movie "Powder"?

so long ago i remember nothing.

Perhaps a revisit is in order?

I remember my grandmother, and after all this time, doing so still makes me cry.

Honestly, I couldn't care less if those I leave behind remember me, but I will worry about leaving them for their own sakes.

What does it matter if they remember me?