Let us leave the legacy we desire

Tsungai Chekerwa-Machokoto
A LEGACY is a very interesting aspect of a person and should be monitored and cultivated with care. A legacy should never be taken lightly as it is the only way that we will be remembered after we are gone.

This past week, the Nelson Mandela Day celebrations really got me thinking. Nelson Mandela left a legacy of love, reconciliation and unity. He was an amazing icon who set the standard so high that it is hard to try and achieve in this day. He was patient, loving and selfless. On July 18 every year, Nelson Mandela is celebrated and people have to for 67 minutes, do something loving, selfless and giving for someone less fortunate, expecting nothing in return.

Basically people have to be as noble as he was for just 67 minutes on that day. As I watched the news, it was interesting to see how people had spent their 67 minutes. I had introspection and really got thinking about the type of legacy I am personally creating for myself.

When I die, what will people say about me? How will I be remembered? Will I be remembered lovingly or grudgingly? Will people be relieved at my departure or will they miss me? It is true that a legacy is not an iconic event in your life, it is an ongoing process of touching people’s lives and when you do something to positively change someone’s life — you are creating a legacy.

Like Nelson Mandela, there are a lot of our own local icons that we celebrate today because of the impact that they made in our lives. The late Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo is one of my favourite icons of all time. I remember his fatherly and loving smile and how approachable he was. He handed out free hugs and was just amazing to be around.

I remember Mother Theresa who was a legend at giving and virtue. She taught morality and lived an exemplary life. I think of US former president Barack Obama and the impact that he had on the history of Africa. So many people with beautiful legacies to learn from.

We have living legends that we celebrate in this life. Our very own president, the legendary Robert Gabriel Mugabe. I could write a book about him alone. I personally celebrate him for his stance on education. Because of him, Zimbabwe is a highly educated nation. I have had the privilege of travelling to different parts of the world and you would be amazed at the respect that people give Zimbabweans because of our education. We excel wherever we go because of the educational foundation that is offered in our schools. We have a superior standard that makes us glide in other educational environments and for the challenging environments, we thrive. I will love my president forever for giving us that.

Another legacy that he has created for us is of being entrepreneurs. Zimbabweans everywhere are daring to start their own businesses. We have been groomed to not work for the white man or anyone else, but to work for ourselves. One of the policies that changed my life is the Look East Policy.

It opened my eyes to possibilities that I never thought were reachable to me. I was on the second ever flight to Beijing on Air Zimbabwe after this policy was launched and what I saw in China was intimidating at first, but it then shocks you into action.

You start to see many gaps that wait to be filled. You step out of your comfort zone and success is incontestable. I am very grateful for that move and I speak for many Zimbabweans when I say that we will survive and prosper anywhere in the world, because of the business mind that was taught to us through the initiative of our president. We have a living legend and we have the opportunity to celebrate him each and every day.

We have a part to play in this narrative though, everyone does. The way we socialise our children is a way that can alter everyone’s legacy. Raising our children with rage, intolerance, impatience and an unforgiving spirit is toxic to families let alone to building a legacy. A lot of families are not the “normal” families with a married man and wife and children all conceived within the parameters of marriage. Because of this, a lot of loving kindness is required in raising the children on such homes.

The step-mother, step-father, step-brother and step-sister tags should be replaced with more unifying titles. Once the ill-treatment is replaced with unity and tolerance, you create a legacy that will be followed after you are gone. Women particularly have to be mindful of this because they have the God-given, default attribute of nurturing families.

A woman’s influence can either glue a family together, or break it into tiny little pieces. Women create the atmosphere that is either favourable or not for the creation of meaningful legacies. Women must give careful regard to these facts.

Here are the principles we must commit to in order to leave the legacy we desire. We must know that life is best lived in service to others. You can never create a respectable legacy if all you care about is your immediate family.

In fact, what you will be doing is the opposite. You will leave a legacy of selfishness and you will be forgotten even by those immediate family members. There will be no reason to continue talking about you or what was learnt from you. Another way is to consider others interests as important as your own.

Once you know that the world does not revolve around you alone, it is easy to start considering what others desire as well.

When you think in this vein, it is easy to become and remain relevant. Love your neighbour even if you don’t like him is another way to create a legacy. We live in a world where people are so absorbed in their issues and problems that thinking of someone else’s problems is a far-fetched ambition at times.

Some individuals find it hard to love their own extended family members so talking of neighbours becomes a challenge. Maintaining integrity at all costs is another way to create a legacy. We often have a misconception that legacies have to do with money. No they don’t.

Legacies cannot be bought. If they could, rich people would only have good and respectable legacies. Estates are the ones that are bought. Legacies are earned. You work towards creating a legacy. Being a person of integrity is priceless. People depend on individuals who possess this quality that has become rare. When people know that they can depend and trust in you, it is something that they will emulate while you are alive and continue to refer to after you expire. It is worth our while to exhaust our energy into leaving a legacy of integrity.

Finally, it is important to know that you reap what you sow. Whatever it is that you do while you are alive and in your right senses, is what will follow you for the rest of your life. It is critically important to sow soberly. The Bible says that “a good name is more precious than gold” and that is so true.

No matter how many billions you have to your name, without respect you remain a rich “nothing”. The opposite is also true. If you have no money in your bank account and nothing to your name but with admirable values, you will be respected as kings. It is very important to keep these things in mind as we live our lives. What do we want to be remembered as? We can start today to change the script of our legacies. It is doable and it is completely in our hands.

Legacies cannot be bought. They are created by us while we are alive and kicking. We have big examples of people that left good legacies and we should learn from them. We should celebrate people who have legacies we can admire and learn from them.

You are remembered exactly how you are creating your memory now. The most noble legacies are based on helping and touching lives that are not your nuclear or immediate family. They are based on making other people’s issues your own and actually living your life incorporating their interests into your plans.

It is very important. I would personally want to leave a legacy that people can learn from and that my children and grand-children can be proud of. I want them to write about the lessons they would have learnt from the way I lived my life. I’ll work towards this until my expiration date, we all ought to do the same.

-Tsungai Chekerwa-Machokoto can be reached on email [email protected]