Jubril’s World

This is passage from Stephen Coveys 7 Habits.  

PLEASE FIND A PLACE TO READ THESE NEXT FEW PAGES where you can be alone and Uninterrupted.   Clear your mind of everything except what you will read and what I will invite you to do. Don’t worry about your schedule, your business, your family, or your friends.  Just focus with me and really open your mind.

            In your mind’s eye, see yourself driving to the funeral of a loved one.  Picture yourself driving to the funeral parlor or chapel, parking the car and getting out. As you walk inside the building you notice the flowers, the soft organ music.  You see the faces of friends and family you pass along the way.  You feel the shared sorrow of losing, the joy of having known, that radiates from the hearts of the people there.

            As your walk down to the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to face with yourself.  This is your funeral, three years from today. All these people have come to honor to express feelings of love and appreciation for your life.

            As you take a seat and wait for the services to begin, you look at the program in your hand.  There are to be four speakers. The first is from your family, immediate and also extended-children, brother’s sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who have come from all over the country to attend.  The second speaker is one of your friends, someone who can give a sense of what you were as a person.  The third speaker is from your work or profession.  And the fourth is from your church or some community organization where you’ve been involved in service.

            Now think deeply.  What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life?  What kind of husband, wife, father or mother would you like their words to reflect? What kind of son or daughter or cousin?  What kind of friend? What kind of working associate? 

            What character would you like them to have seen in you?  What contributions, what achievements would you want them to remember?  Look carefully at the people around you.  What difference would you like to have made in their lives?

For me I found this passage hit hard because, when I hear people say live as if I am going to die tomorrow.  I understand the meaning, but the odds are better of me marrying Meagan Good this week.   The odds of me dying in next 3 years are still slim, but they amount change can make in 3 years is ………………….

Find Covey’s 7 habits of successful people on Amazon or local bookstore.

your Funeral