{"id":172,"date":"2012-12-07T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T07:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/the-legacy-cliff-a-guest-post-by-dr-andrew-thorn\/"},"modified":"2012-12-07T07:05:00","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T07:05:00","slug":"the-legacy-cliff-a-guest-post-by-dr-andrew-thorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/the-legacy-cliff-a-guest-post-by-dr-andrew-thorn\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legacy Cliff: A Guest Post by Dr. Andrew Thorn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you there yet?<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you reached that point in your life when you suddenly
\nrealize that there are more days behind you than there are ahead of you? If you
\nhave, then you may find yourself wondering \u201cwas it all worth it?\u201d or maybe
\neven, \u201cis this all there is?\u201d<\/p>\n

The midpoint of life, under normal circumstances, is an intense
\ntransitional experience. These are not normal circumstances. The current
\neconomic, social, political, physical and spiritual environments seem to be
\nmore turbulent than at any other time in recent memory.<\/p>\n

Some of us may be facing involuntary career changes. Many of us
\nare watching the retirement funds we so carefully and painfully saved over a
\nlifetime, evaporate right before our eyes.<\/p>\n

We may have once dreamed of retiring, but now a body that arises
\neach day with the discovery of new aches and pains, is joined by a mind that
\nawakens to the reality that the rest it had been promising itself for so many
\nyears continues to linger, like a desert mirage, just on the horizon ahead.<\/p>\n

This is suppose to be a time when everything we have labored for
\ncomes together for our own good as we triumphantly live into the sunset of our
\nlegacy. Yet, as we stand on the edge of own \u201cLegacy Cliff\u201d, it is so easy to
\nthink, \u201cI can\u2019t get there from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some, the second half of life ushers in a melancholy moment
\nof despair. This is because society celebrates youth and encourages us to
\ntightly hang on and celebrate it with the utmost zeal for as long as we
\npossibly can. Yet the longer we hang on the more fearful we become. For when we
\nlive by the light of our greatest hits, we find ourselves increasingly unable
\nto do what we \u201cuse to could\u201d do.<\/p>\n

This can be a very confusing time because the first half of life
\nnaturally calls us to define ourselves by what we do. The future calls us to
\nexamine who we are, and who we want to be; which can be a very scary thing<\/p>\n

Living into the future affords us the opportunity of regaining
\nand maintaining our energy. We must be willing to leave behind everything we
\nhave done for the sake of living into who we are supposed to be. To be clear,
\nthe only way we can survive the trip over the \u201cLegacy Cliff\u201d is to let go of
\nthe past and live into the future.<\/p>\n

That sounds harder to do than it is. All that is required is an
\nevaluation of who we want to be. To live into this defining moment we must be
\nwilling to see who it is that we want to be before we cross the finish line of
\nlife. Then we must allow this vision of potential to permeate our being. By
\nthat I mean that we allow this vision to purposefully guide every thing we do.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t that we no longer do; rather we insure that our doing is
\nconnected to who we want to be. As we look to the future we realize that we can
\nno longer sacrifice what really matters to the demands of what merely
\nmomentarily matters.<\/p>\n

The first half of life is filled with dreams. The second half of
\nlife is filled with aspirations. Dreaming means to listen to our desires and
\ninvent an image of the future. Aspiring means to breathe life into the deepest
\ndesires of our heart.<\/p>\n

As we spend our most productive moments contributing value at
\nwork, we often tell ourselves that the day will come when we can live into our
\nown aspirations. That day only comes for those who go over the cliff without
\nany thought of looking back.<\/p>\n

Happiness comes to those who realize that they no longer need to
\nworry about what they are losing as they age. Instead they see and understand
\nthe gains that come from growing whole.<\/p>\n

To me, growing whole means becoming the person<\/a> that I was always
\nmeant to be. It means reaching for my personal potential. It invites greater
\nlevels of self-awareness. To become whole, I must be willing to examine every
\naspect of my life. I must be willing to embrace being who I am over doing what
\nI do. I must be willing to learn and grow.<\/p>\n

Wholeness inspires a constant focus on reaching for the next
\nlevel. Our eyes must always be looking to a promising and fulfilling future.
\nWhen we stop reaching for the next level, we start feeling out of focus,
\ndisconnected, and even burnt out.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, legacy is incorrectly defined by what we leave behind.
\nWhile most of us are strongly connected to that idea, I have come to appreciate
\nthe probability that legacy also yields a forward-facing and future outcome.
\nOnly a portion of our legacy is bestowed upon those who follow us. The other
\nportion is carried on with us as we move toward our own potential.<\/p>\n

In fact, the etymology of the word legacy presents a convincing
\nargument that it was never intended to be about what we leave behind. Instead
\nit suggests that it denoted the continual shaping and reshaping of a future
\noutcome. <\/p>\n

Thus, living into our legacy inspires multiple directions. What
\nwe leave behind is important but the purpose of this life is to learn and grow
\nthrough our own experiences. This means we be willing to live into a bright
\nfuture. To do otherwise is to grow old and die. Yes we will cross the finish
\nline someday, but the notable energy levels<\/a> of one who crosses in wholeness
\ncompared to those who cross in oldness is quite remarkable.<\/p>\n

Normally, this is the space where you get to hear all of the
\nsuggestions an author has for you, some sort of numbered step by step list for
\nyou to live into the things being prescribed. But this wouldn\u2019t be your list,
\nso it wouldn\u2019t be very meaningful.<\/p>\n

Instead, I want you the reader to be the coauthor of this
\narticle. In fact, I want you to write the ending all by yourself. It is my hope
\nthat you will take a moment to reflect on the following questions and come up
\nwith your our list. I am certain that doing so will allow you to fly right over
\nthe Legacy Cliff as you identify the person you want to be. Are you ready?<\/p>\n

Who do you want to be when you grow whole?<\/p>\n

As soon as you get a clear picture of who you want to be in your
\nmind, please capture your the actions you must take to become that person. What
\nare they?<\/p>\n

Now, before you leave this space please decide if you are
\ncommitted to doing those actions so that you may become that person. Be honest
\nwith yourself. If you are not, then go back to step one and redefine who it is
\nyou want to be.<\/p>\n

If you gave this your full attention, then you are now free to
\nlet go of the past by living into your future. It\u2019s your legacy. Reach for it.<\/p>\n

Dr. Andrew Thorn<\/a> is the founder of Telios Corporation<\/a><\/strong> and
\ncreator of The<\/strong> Telios Experience\u2122.  <\/strong>He holds <\/strong>a
\nPhD<\/a> in Consulting Psychology<\/a>, a Masters in Personal and Executive Coaching, and
\na Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University<\/a>.  Dr.
\nThorn is also the author of U-wun-ge-lay-ma: A Guide to Next-level
\nLiving<\/a><\/strong> and the upcoming book Who Do You Want To Be When
\nYou Grow Whole? The Future of Meaning and Purpose.  <\/strong>He
\nlives in Apple Valley, California with his wife Stacy and seven children.<\/em><\/p>\n


<\/em><\/p>\n

\nRelated articles<\/legend>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>The Tempest Inside<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Legacy<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you there yet? Have you reached that point in your life when you suddenly realize that there are more days behind you than there are ahead of you? If you have, then you may find yourself wondering \u201cwas it all worth it?\u201d or maybe even, \u201cis this all there is?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,4,6,54],"tags":[607,23,609,24,608,603,39,610,611,67],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-2","category-coaching","category-learning","category-life-perspectives","tag-andrew-thorn","tag-career","tag-cliff","tag-dreams","tag-fiscal-cliff","tag-legacy-cliff","tag-life","tag-second-act","tag-telios-corporation","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.epicliving.com\/epic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}