It’s January and many of us turn our thoughts to goals and plans for the new year.  I do too.

It also seems like a good time to remember why.  What’s the end goal here? Is it simply a matter of doing better and being better? Or, is it a subconscious knowing that all this is about leaving a legacy someday?  And what exactly is a legacy?

Many would point to offspring and some would point to wealth. Still others would point to good memories left behind with friends and family. I think of the legacy my parents left me. Apart from genetics, the biggest legacy they left was what they taught me.

Legacy is what we teach others, whether by word or example. And, the most beneficial thing we can teach others is what we learn from pursuing our own powerful questions. My parents went through the great depression and my father was an immigrant who arrived here at age 18. He then fought in World War II. I can only imagine the questions he had about life, death and meaning. I can’t tell you his most powerful question, he never shared like that, but, I can tell you what his questions produced. It was written on every look and spelled out in every expectation;  the value of work, the value of family, and especially the value of living our faith.

As you think of the new year, think of legacy and what you are teaching. If you are not sure, your first resolution should be to find your powerful question. That question will lead you to what you are meant to teach.