Excitement rose in Ursula’s chest as she began to see Lady Liberty appear over the horizon.
“Deep breaths,” she muttered to herself as she clung tightly to her only suitcase.
After being on the massive steamboat for what seemed to be a lifetime, Ursula couldn’t wait to walk on solid ground again. Though she loved the feeling of the wind in her hair and a constant view of the sky above, she was ready to begin this new season of life.
As the large steamboat rose and fell with the waves, Ursula reflected on what she had left behind: Family, friends, the aftermath of WWII…
Memories of her sweet home over a candy shop being destroyed by bombs flashed through her mind– One of many experiences that would continue to shape her family for generations.
When the boat finally docked, Ursula made her way down to solid ground where she was immediately greeted by a slew of American accents and the iconic smell of New York food vendors.
“Ah yes,” Ursula thought, as she took it all in. “This is America.”
…
Ursula is like many who journey to the United States of America: searching for freedom and a better way of life. Her bravery and determination to cross the ocean alone is why I am here and writing to you today. You see, Ursula was my grandmother.
Just like Ursula, we make choices everyday that affect future generations. The choices don’t have to be as drastic as immigrating to another country; they are really as simple as choosing the people we spend time with on a daily basis. The basic concept is: we are writing our legacies whether we are conscious of it or not.
Today we are encouraged to venture out on a personal quest that will help answer the following questions: Why do I do the things I can’t explain? Why do I love what I love? Why do I deeply struggle with this? What is my identity? Does the way I live my life actually matter?
In hopes of answering these questions we find ourselves, directly and indirectly, looking to social media, tv shows, music, magazines, and friends for answers.
The last place many look to for answers is our ancestors.
Very seldom are we encouraged to look to our past (the past that existed way before we were even a thought) to find encouragement and vision for our future.
When you take the step to initiate these conversations, you may realize your grandmother struggled with the same things you struggle with or you may find out your great grandfather shared your same love for the arts!
Taking time to learn from our ancestors will enrich our lives and the lives of those around us by acknowledging the impact of the choices we make now.
This concept is to help our understanding of ourselves, but also to encourage intentional listening and loving of others.
Our lives are a part of a greater story that has been in existence way before our time and that will continue to exist way after our time.
The riveting concept is that every life affects every other life in some way shape or form. The people who were a part of your great-great-great grandmother’s life helped shape her into the person she was, thus affecting who you are today. And how you are living your life is going to affect many generations to come.
How are you choosing to live your life now? How is that affecting the people around you? Are you thinking about how your current decisions are shaping the lives of future generations?
Hear this cry for understanding, for intentional living, for extending grace to all of humanity because we are always learning, and for realizing the impact we have and to pursue that impact with purpose.
I know some of our ancestry isn’t encouraging or easy to talk about. My hope is together we will learn how to live with more grace towards humanity while fiercely encouraging others around us to live their legacy as well.
Next time we will learn how to initiate these conversations with others.
Live Your Legacy,
Caralee Rose
And remember, we are all ORIGIN points: Something great has the potential of beginning with us.
Make sure to subscribe for exclusive content and thought provoking questions.
Loved hearing part of your grandmother’s story. It is such a joy to hear someone speak passionately about intentional living. I am excited to follow along and process on this journey!!
I am excited to have you on this journey! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
Are you thinking about how your current decisions are shaping the lives of future generations?
I think sometimes I forget that everything we do has huge impacts on how the future will look. Time travel movies always make a huge deal how touching anything in the past will cause ripples and change the reality they came from. It’s easy to think that we aren’t big enough to make a difference, but whether we are intentional or not, we have a huge impact on future generations. I’ll be honest, some days are easier than others to live intentionally and with purpose. I just hope everyday that one day I’ll look back and be proud of what I accomplished and get to share that with my family and friends around me.
Tyler, Thank you for sharing! You make a great point that we often don’t feel we are big enough to make a difference. I believe that all of us deeply desire to make a difference; to matter.
I agree it is hard to live with intention some days. Life, stress, lack of sleep, etc. can hinder the motivation to live with intention. It is all a balance. Giving grace where we fail (and where our ancestors have failed) and pursuing the next moment of impact we have with intention.
You are definitely not alone in wanting to be proud of your life and it’s great you are consciously thinking about that! It can be both encouraging and daunting that our legacy will continue generations after we pass.
I am so excited you have joined the journey with me and I look forward to more of your insights!
Many times what we see as a “fail” in ourselves or our ancestors is only the next step in our journey of courage to take the next step. We also never really know what our ancestors were thinking or what pain their hearts have endured. Those are all feelings and events that shape us all. What will we do with what has been given to us? A heart of forgiveness and grace is a good starting point. Where do we find forgiveness and grace? We find it at the foot of The Cross.
Tante Rosie, your words are so wise a true. It is so important to give grace and understanding for what we do not know and to move forward with courage.