Do You Know Your Human Expiration Date?
I came face to face with the finality of life again, recently, as we all do. I had just completed leading a Master Mind group in which we studied John Maxwell’s blockbuster book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The final chapter, The Law of Legacy, hit me hard.
This was a seven-week Master Mind. Although we maintain a “distraction free zone” during sessions, I do use my mobile phone. Halfway through our fifth session, I received this text: “Your brother’s in a coma, his breathing is labored. I’m at his bedside. This is really hard. Love, Dad.”
A participant was sharing, I muted my line, no one heard my gasp. We completed the call without interruption. It wasn’t a surprise, my younger brother had only recently been diagnosed with an aggressive, fatal brain tumor. We didn’t think it would go this fast. He died the following week, leaving behind a large, and deeply grieving, family.
The final week of our Master Mind, and the final chapter of the book came the following week. My brother’s life had ended, the Master Mind group was coming to a close, the final chapter: The Law of Legacy.
John begins with these words, “What do you want people to say at your funeral?” Just pondering that powerful question, some participants said they felt tearful.
The question got me thinking deeply about the idea of the Human Expiration Date. We’re obviously substantially more sophisticated than a package of bread, so we can’t just turn our own human package around, look at it, figure out what the expiration date is by the barcode or twisty tie.
Why is it, though, when we open a brand new loaf of bread, many folks reach right in, bypass the first few slices and go deeper? We go right into the freshest part, the center of the loaf, go ahead, you can admit it.
I think we believe the surface pieces of bread have gone stale, they’re not the freshest, softest. Is that true with us as humans? Are we so numb to the busyness of daily life that we’re stale on the surface? Should we dig deeper, go to the center, to the soft place to find the freshest us, the best ideas, the newest thinking?
We should. Each day, we’re writing our own eulogy. We’re one day closer to our unknown Human Expiration Date – not stamped or barcoded on our packaging. We don’t know our “best used by” or “guaranteed fresh until” date. What if it’s today? Have you written the eulogy you want? If not, what can you do TODAY, RIGHT NOW to start?
As a certified member of the John Maxwell Team, I’ve had open access to an extensive body of John Maxwell’s work in our comprehensive, sophisticated online platform, and enjoyed personal sessions with John and his faculty. I’ve been writing my own eulogy daily by going deeper into the soft places, learning more about leadership, kindness, encouragement, about lifting people up and adding value to them.
In this multimedia realm of videos, audios, PDF’s, PowerPoints, and Word documents; of templates and scripts and books and training packages – and support and camaraderie – I’ve found a meaningful way to grow as a leader and to reach out to others and help them grow in their leadership as well. What I’m learning and doing is changing lives, families, businesses and communities, by training leaders.
If my Human Expiration Date is today, I’m hopeful my eulogy would read something like this, “Misty was driven for leadership growth and development and compounding interest by adding value to others.” You see, I want to make a difference in the world. And I want to do it before my expiration date. Do you?
When is your Human Expiration Date? Did you say, “I don’t know?” Me neither. What you do everyday is your legacy. Take action today, right now.
About the Author
Misty Young, known as The Restaurant Lady, is board chair of Squeeze In Franchising, LLC.
She consults and coaches small businesses, particularly restaurants, throughout North America.
Misty has been married to Gary Young for almost 35 years and is a grandmother of three.
Contact Misty at : http://www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/mistyyoung/