Nothing is more consuming, or more illogical, than the desire for remembrance.
Ellen Glasgow
Thought the above quote was interesting considering this previous Daily Prompt post. It supports what I said: wanting to be remembered for something makes no sense. When you’re dead, you won’t know how people remember you, anyway. Also, you have no control over it.
However, I do think it is impossible to not think about how others will remember you from time to time. Though I don’t know if framing it as a post-mortem query is the best way to go about it. However, to frame it in pre-death terms means asking folks to care about what others think about them.
Just, You Know, Don’t Be A Dick
Not being able to control what folks remember about us and not wanting to care about what others think of us in life doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about being a compassionate human to those around us. It’s just that, with each decision you have to make, you shouldn’t be worrying about what others will think about you.
Each decision should be made with only one thing in mind: what is the best thing to do right now? Of all my options, which one causes the least amount of harm?
That’s it.
Will you make mistakes? Of course, you will. Will those mistakes change how others think of you? I can tell you from first-hand experience that they definitely will. The point, however, is who the hell cares? Like you, all those assholes will soon be dead, so you can’t worry about any of that.
Regardless of what happened yesterday, just don’t be a dick today and let tomorrow take care of itself.