One way you can still be useful when you are old
Yoga at Johns Family Park, Kelowna
Being an old retired guy with a decent pension means I have time on my hands to think and do things for others. Recently a dear friend was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer and given months to live…. Obviously, this would cause anybody near to them in age be more reflective about the passing of time. What came to me with the thought of how I can still be useful now that my bones are creakier than they used to be. While there are many ways we older folks can help other people and Creation, like babysitting my grandson like I am currently, I want to focus on only one: leaving a legacy.
Today my wife and I were walking in a Conservation area on a mountain near Kelowna, BC, that was donated to the community by a brother and sister pictured above. Here in Kelowna this has been the third time I have come across parks given to the community from its well to do citizens who put the public good ahead of any private gain. The first person is Stanley Simpson who had owned the local lumber mill. He left a pond and beach and park that has become the centrepiece for downtown Kelowna. The second is Dr. Benjamin deFurlong Boyce who in 1932 donated 5 lots of his property to the Kelowna Gyro Club for use as a Lakeshore Park. Later the club donated this valuable lakeside land to the city of Kelowna for public use. The third is the Conservation area that I was hiking on this morning, Johns Family Nature Conservancy Regional Park, land donated by brother and sister Alf and Nancy. I took pictures of their story for you to read.
What does this have to do with you and I? Clearly, each of us, within our means, can leave a legacy for the generations that come after us. In effect, we can plant seeds that will sprout after we are gone. There is a kind of transcendence that happens from this kind of gift. We live on in a particular way: what we value lives on. It could be a tree we plant. It could be a baby we help nurture. It could helping or donating to a charitable organization. It could be permanently protecting a patch of Mother Earth, as the Alf and Nancy did. It could be helping people in your community. It could be helping your children or grandchildren adapt to a post Climate change world. It could be writing a book that inspires young people to hope and act in ways that bring joy to their lives. A caveat: whatever it is you do always do it in a way that heals and helps you in return. By creating this virtuous cycle you are energized by your actions and your legacy. There is no lose in this, only a win-win. Some people don’t believe in win-win, but given the fact You and I will be gone , so how can we possibly lose?
So, what can you, if you are older, do to help create a Life Sustaining Future? Leave a legacy that will be a seed that will sprout after you are gone, as per this quote shown above I found on my walk in Johns Family Park.
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