Forget Me (Not)

Last week I shared some thoughts about being remembered inspired by Shonda Rhimes’ book Year of Yes. This week, my non-fiction of choice is My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me by Jennifer Teege and it occurred to me that sometimes the hope is not that you will be remembered but rather that you (or someone associated with you) will be forgotten. Well isn’t this just a crisis of conscience.

Notice how that was not a question. Anyway, it let me down the path of thinking about all the things I do every day that are unseen. Like, for instance, how I strive to be a really nice person outside but how the thoughts inside my head can be very judgy. But I try my best to keep that to myself. However, there are people who do bad things to get noticed. It makes no sense to me. Why is attention more important than being a good person? Why is fame and fortune a priority over honesty and hard work?

These questions honestly leave me speechless, which is no easy task. I cannot imagine waking up each day and getting out of bed and not working hard on something. That something could be as little as scrubbing my tub, but you can damn well bet you have never seen anything sparkle like that tub in your life once I am done with it. I am good at cleaning (when I care). I am good at other things too though, like my career path. I am not on this journey because it’s fun or interesting; I am on my journey because I am talented in my field. I find it fun and interesting because I am good at it. I had some wonderful people in my life who showed me the way to where I am today and continue to guide me whether they realize it or not (thanks y’all).

If it so happened that I was really good at being bad, how would I even find that out? What choices would I have to make to approach that discovery? I think the kicker for me above anything else is that I do not want anybody I currently love to one day be ashamed to speak about me. I cannot imagine my future grandchildren running away from their past (me). I can only imagine flipping through photo albums and sharing warm, happy memories. Sure, everybody makes mistakes. Acknowledging and atoning for those mistakes can be a very important thing though.

So, as I said last week I will say again: the future needs to be better than the present.

Make someone proud today, tomorrow, and every day.