Legacy
People want to have kids. It’s normal. It’s human nature. But why? Why are humans so eager to procreate when there are literally hundreds of reasons to not have children? I know. I have counted them over the years, and I think I’ve come up with about 300 distinct reasons to not have children.
And yet, we keep on doing it.
So why? Why spend the money? Why go through the pain, both physical and emotional, to be a parent? (Despite the advances of modern medicine, being pregnant and giving birth can still be quite painful experiences. AND it really hurts when they kick you!) Why worry about whom the kids hang out with, if they’re getting enough nutrition, where they’ll go to school?
In pondering all these thoughts, I determined that it might have something to do with our own fear of dying. People often discuss wanting to leave something behind, wanting to be remembered for a particular accomplishment, or attitude they’ve espoused. They want to be remembered long after they are gone, and the most surefire way to achieve this is to have a child.
If you produce a child, at least a part of you never dies.
Yet I submit this is not the only way to leave a legacy. Teachers across the nation are going back to school this month, and in the minds of those students, they are planting memories. Hopefully they are good memories of kindness shared and inquisitiveness fostered. As the children grow, they will remember that teacher, even after he is dead.
Teachers touch dozens of lives each year. They have several opportunities to build their legacy in their students. A part of them will not die as long as their students remember the love shared in that classroom.
by Jennifer Seal
August 12, 2021