The Viable Alternative

It’s funny, but when I used to hear people talk about leaving a legacy, it logically made sense as something that should be taken into consideration, but it never really resonated deeply within me so I never took the question of what type of legacy I wanted to leave to heart. However, as I continue to go through my process of healing, things have become a lot more clear and I’ve started to think about the bigger picture of life and the world and how I want to fit into it in terms of the impact I want to leave for having passed through, and the types of choices I could make that would provide the maximum benefit for my descendants.

It’s never been so clear to me than now how the choices we make don’t only affect us, but also the world at large and future generations to come.

It makes me think about my father upon graduating from medical school in England, deciding to take the American Board Examinations to become certified as a Doctor in America, because he always dreamed of living in America. He passed the test on the first try and went to the U.S. the following year. He told me that fellow students who wound up waiting to take the examination had a hard time passing and others who never wound up taking it wound up regretting their decision years later and praising my father for his foresight and wisdom.

As a result of his decision, his children, and his children’s children, and so on had the opportunity to be born in America, the land of opportunity that millions of people are dying to come to each year.

It also makes me think of his father, who decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a farmer because he didn’t see that as the wave of the future. He instead decided to defy his father and learn the trade of a mechanic, which eventually led him to start his own transport business from where he was able to become wealthy and afford to send my father to college.

Undoubtedly, my grandfather’s decision he made almost a century ago has indirectly impacted my life.

I think of my brother, who though intelligent, putzed around in school most of his life and never took it seriously until his late 20s when he had this idea of going to grad school to get his MBA, and not just any old MBA school, but one of the top 15 in the country. Though it was a long shot, he scored high on the GMATs, wrote some really tight essays, and got some good letters of recommendation and got accepted.

At his school, he met a girl who he wound up dating and also landed a good paying job on the West Coast. Long story short, the girl he met wound up moving in with him after he graduated and now they’re expecting a child.

Think about it, had he not gotten his proverbial isht together, he would’ve never met the girl he did to have the kid they’re going to have which he now has the means to provide for.

What comes to mind is also the stories I’ve heard of people who were around in Germany when Hitler came to power deciding to move to the U.S. because they sensed he was a nutjob and knew it wasn’t safe to be there. Had they stayed, they would’ve shared the fate of the millions that died in the concentration camps, but since they decided to flee, they were able to live and raise their families in relative peace and safety in America.

I am starting to see that the mark of a truly mature adult, a man’s man and a woman’s woman, is to fully understand and see that our actions not only affect us individually, but they also send a continuous ripple effect to our descendants and the world at large. As such, as corny as it may sound, we truly are connected, whether we like it or not.

It’s truly humbling to think that all the people past and present through their choice of having the courage to step out of their comfort zones to fight injustice violently and non-violently, pursue their dreams, leave the comfort of their homes to emigrate to a foreign land, escape slavery, rise out of an environment of poverty and ignorance, face their inner demons, etc. were able to directly or indirectly have a positive affect on not only the lives of people they know, but also people they don’t know and will never meet.

Think about it, in one way or another, we are all the benefactors of the courageous decisions people made from now way back to thousands of years ago, in faraway lands. That to me is incredible.

With the progress of billions of lives on this planet at stake now and generations to come, it’s completely and totally selfish to be a part of this earth and cowardly stay in your comfort zone by refusing to share your natural gifts, pursue your dreams and learn and grow.

Since my legacy has started to weigh on my mind, part of my focus now through the therapy sessions I go to once a week is to be able to heal myself and overcome my emotional issues so I can one day be a good husband and father. I’ve also made finding my purpose top priority and have surrendered all to God to show me His purpose for my life and allow Him to accomplish it through me.

My focus is to be able to build something that not only has a positive effect on my fellow human beings, but also that I would be able to leave to my descendants so that they have something to stand on and build upon. In order to do this, it’s necessary that I kick things up a notch and stop weakly cowering in my own comfort zone.

Ultimately, it’s important to realize that it’s not about us, but about how we can make the world a better place for our fellow human beings, our families, and the people who will be living on this planet long after we’re gone.

This is The Viable Alternative.

I hope this helps,

Ike Love