Ok, I have been thinking these last few days about what I want to be remembered by, or what I want people to associate with me. You know - when someone says, "Joanna Ellis is so_____________".
Like when I think of my friend Denae I automatically think, "Denae is one of the happiest people I know - being around her always makes me happy and I leave with a smile on my face!"
Or another friend of mine is a really disciplined person and I wish I could be as disciplined as she is with exercise and eating healthy. I wish I could be like her in her desire to run - she really LOVES it. (I'm trying to even tolerate it...)
And then there is a woman in our ward who is always selfishlessly serving EVERYONE. I've heard it said of her that she is a bloodhound - always able to sniff out when someone needs help even before they know that they do. She is always taking meals, making visits, helping in other's yards - she's amazing.
Or a friend who always remembers birthdays - no matter what she always sends a sweet card and sometimes a little gift. But without fail - I know that Melissa always remembers birthdays.
I have a grandma who is always thinking of others too. She's so sweet at sending my boys little notes and cards in the mail with stickers and pictures. Gabe loves it!
And the list could go on and on. I admire so many people for the lives they live. You all really do inspire me and make me want to be a better person!
Unfortunately I think that the one resounding thing that everyone who knows me well would say is, "Joanna is always so stressed". And it's true....I am just a stressed out person. I stress about pretty much everything under the sun. I stress about my kids being well behaved in public. I stress about having a lot to do with my Young Women calling. I stress about getting work done for our business. I stress about family and friends coming to visit - wanting my house to be clean and orderly, and to be a good hostess. I stress about looking just right when I go out with friends and I stress about loosing these last 15 lbs that are hanging on for dear life. Honestly - I don't really know what my life would be like if I wasn't stressed - it's just who I am.
But that isn't what I want to be remembered for in life. I want to live my life in a way that there are other things that people think of when they think of my name. I'd like to be remembered as a good mom. I hope as my kids get older that I can be a FUN mom - one who plays with her kids, and has fun with them. I wish I could be remembered as being a patient person - although I have a long way to come with that one..... I hope that my kids will think of me as someone who loved the gospel and our Savior. I would like to think people would associate me with being a good cook, a humble person, a compassionate friend and neighbor....the list goes on and on. But hey - I would even settle for being known for making the world's best chocolate chip cookies. :)
So what do you want to be remembered for? What do you want your legacy to be and what are you doing to work towards that? I want to hear the silly, and the deep and important. I would really like to hear EVERYONE's comments. So lurkers, frequent posters - everyone - please leave a comment!
And if you leave a comment between now and Monday morning (February 4th) I will put all of the comments in a hat and draw 2 winners. The first winner will have a choice between 2 DVD's - Ratatouille, and a collection of short Pixar movies. And the second winner will get whatever is left over :)
17 comments:
I remember doing an assignment like this in school once - except it was what we would want said at our funeral and a sentence about us to go on our headstone. It is such a powerful reminder to be doing what is really important in life.
I've thought about this a lot and here are just a few things that I want to be remembered as
*A good wife and mother (that encompasses so many things!)
*people knew that I knew Christ by the way I treated other people
*Cheerful, with a ready smile
*someone you could count on for anything and was always willing to serve
And Joanna, when I think of you, I think of talented, creative, and thoughtful - among so many other things!
This is a very thought provoking question. Hadn't really thought about it until now! I taught elementary school for 8 years before moving to Rigby. I absolutely love teaching and love children. I have to say I really hope this is my "legacy" if you will when others think of me. Or at least I hope this is what comes to mind when they hear my name. I am like you though, I stress about everything, including things that shouldn't be! Thanks for the thought provoking question and the chance to win a cool movie!
I want to be remembered for:
-being good at hide and seek,
-being the fastest cookie eater around (and I've got some competition with Dad in this department, he's fast)
-being good at tickling,
-being lucky at winning prizes from drawings and competitions (Paul's got me beat at this one though)
and for one serious note, I'd like to be remembered as someone who had great perspective in life, whose decisions and actions were timely, well thought out, and important.
-Jed
And, when I think of you, Joanna, I think of someone who is super caring, remembers everything, has an eye for detail, is good at cooking (healthy food too!), is good at leading others while also being able to accept sound direction from leaders.
I love this question! I have lists and lists, but if I had to narrow it down to just a few I would have to say, I would like to be the kind of person who makes people feel good about themselves, you know those people who when you are around them you just feel important. I want people to say that they wanted to know Christ because they knew me. I want to be a mom who is a good mom, AND a good friend, not like we share clothes and giggle, but like they can talk to me when they are afraid to talk to anyone else. I also want to be one of those friends who you have forever, and can always count on.
I want to tell you that "stressed out" isn't what I think of when I think of you. I think of someone who is an instant friend, who you can spend hours talking to the very first time you meet. I also think you have such a strong spirit. You can feel it by just being near you. Anyway, I love this post, and I am interested to read what other people say too.
I want to be remembered for baking the world's best cheesecake. I also want to be remembered as someone who is emotionally stable (working on that one, pregnancy doesn't help any)... I want to be remembered as a great missionary, being fun, and being compassionate.
I also want to be remembered as a true friend.
-Laura
hum.....hard to answer what I'd like to be remembered for but I think I'd like to be remembered as a man full of integrity and love, whose family knew he loved them completely. Someone that loved to read....loved chocolate and a good joke, (even if he could not remember how to retell it well.....) I love you sweetie....you are a wonderful daughter and your mom and I are very pleased at who you are....
Love.......Dad (did I win the DVD? j.k.)
this is something that's been on my mind the past few days. more along the lines of who I DONT want to be, though. President Hinckley's passing has been on my mind all week, even though I'm not LDS. I hear my friends or people in the media talk about what an amazing man he was and how he dearly loved his wife. I dont want to be known as "Kevin's wife who always nagged at him about the qtips on the bathroom counter". And a whole lot of other thoughts I'd rather share with you in email, if that's ok?
Also, when I think of Joanna Ellis, I think of a woman who has not only been an example of faith to me, but who has been an example of what a true friend should be.
Love you to bits, girl!
3298@I think of you as aparkling shinng star. I will always remenber you were sensitive at all our family occassson always seeing that you gave equal love and attention to Ted and Carol and me. IT ALWAYS touches my heat.
As a stressed person I feel you are a kindred soul.I used to say I give everyting to the Lord. a sister in the ward said"Yes but you do it like putting a cake in the oven and you take it right back out of the oven. Sometimes we do that.
When I first got reactivated to chruch in Denver I was asked to put on a dinner for 350 people for the ward. The relief socity Prea. just forgot tell me she was going on vacation.
NO ONE told me the ovens wouldn't work right and a few other details.
In the middle of all the confusion and crticism I began a terrible migrane and I went to the restroom and cried and prayed. As i sat there alone the thought came to me "What does this have to do with testimony of Christ? When I get too stressed I think of this and back off a little.You will be remembered for your beauriful scrapbooking and creativeness and serving the lord and all of your family,all the Grandmas and Grandpas. LOVE GRANDMA MARILYN
Hmmm, I want to be remembered as a loving friend, a great problem-solver, a person who channeled the Spirit, a person who gave others the permission they needed to be their own best selves. And a good cook, artist, gardener. And a loving partner and family member.
I want to leave my own little piece of the world better than I found it, even in the tiniest ways.
And you Joanna, I feel proud and secure when I think of your big heart, your willingness to jump in and help, your huge ability to work and work and work (you are SO productive!), and your great job as the mother of Gabe and Hunter.
Oh, and I am always bragging about how my niece is a professional scrapbooker! I feel sad that you are so hard on yourself, but I also remember how hard I was on myself at your age, and I have hope that as life continues, the balance of joy and stress will continue to move toward more joy.
Love and blessings to you,
Sandra
Two things...I want to be remembered for being funny (if I do say so myself...hahaha) and creative!! I DON'T want to be remembered for being a mean mommy! :o(
I have taken a while to answer because I have been pondering on how I would answer this question. Many thoughts have gone through my mind. I won't bore you with all of them. But, here are a few of them.
I would like to be thought of as one who loved others unconditionally. One who would drop whatever to help another. One who made others want to know Christ because they knew me. A woman of faith. Don't get me wrong. I know that I fall short of those descriptions in many ways. But, you asked what we want to be remembered for...not what we will be remembered for.
I want to be remembered as a loving wife and mother, a caring daughter and sister, a friend to be counted on.
The list goes on, but I will leave it at that today. That is enough of a challenge for me now. :)
As for you Joanna, you will be remembered for so much more than your stress level. You will be remembered for your creativity and your willingness to share it with others. You will be remembered for your generosity and for the fact that you are always watching out for others. You are a loving and caring mother--be patient with yourself. You are a wonderful cook, and a kind friend. You are very expressive with words. You should have been a writer. Anyway, the list goes on and on. I feel blessed to be your mother. Dad and I have been so blessed by each of our children, by their wonderful spouses and by our beautiful grandchildren.
Love, Mom
I know with out a shadow of a doubt that you will not be remembered as a stressed out person! You are an amazing, wonderful, compassionate, sincere, fun loveing, energetic, motivated, spiritual, bubbly, roommate :) friend, mother and wife. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with everyone. It helps me when I'm stressed and need some help!
I think one of the things I hope to be remembered for is being a postitive, optimistic person that loves life and wants to share and live it. I hope that I will be remembered as the kind of wife/mother/friend who listens carefully to others. Of course being a fun mom would be great, but I'd settle for a mom that taught with love. I would also like to be remembered as a "Child of God" that radiates the Saviors love.
So what I you want to be remembered for?
I want to be remembered as someone being passionate about what I involve myself in.
I want people to remember that I knew their name and important things about them, even if I only met them on a small handful of occassions.
I want to be someone other people can talk to and feel like I really care about them.
I want to be remembered as someone who took living a healthy life seriously.
I want to be someone who people think of when they think of someone who really loves and treats well their spouse and children. (a good husband and father).
That's probably just the beginning of my list. Thanks for the thought provoking question.
That's a tough question.
I want to be remembered as someone that is easy going (but not someone who people can walk over).
I want to be remembered as someone that is well-read. That's one thing I really admired about Pres. & Sis. Hinckley.
I hope people think of me as dedicated - dedicated to my various roles in life.
That's all for now... Nicole
I want to be remembered as being really cute, happy, fun to be around, wiggly, a good singer, and a good nap taker (okay, so my parents want that last one for me :) )
-Taylor
I want to be remembered for winning Joanna's movie competition.I hope I am not too late. Ha ha!
Woops, I forgot to sign my comment. That last one was me, Julia. :)
Jules
Post a Comment