Several years ago, I wrote a blog post revolving around a passage from best-selling author Mitch Albom’s book “Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family.” The passage was: What we carry defines who we are.  And the effort we make is our legacy.

What we carry.  That could be anything from a child to a pet.  It could be a paper bag or a Gucci handbag.  A grudge or grief.  You could carry love in your heart or you could carry hate.  Even mere words. Words are most powerful. A slap in the face will sting for a bit but being berated with words will remain with you forever. Whatever it is you carry–large, small, heavy, light, physical, emotional– it will define who you really are.  Especially if you decide to carry hate over love.

As for the effort we make in what we carry becoming our legacy, I guess it all comes down to what you put into the stuff you carry. In Mitch’s case he carried Chika because she got to the point where she could no longer walk.  I’d like to believe that is something any human being would do for another, if needed.  Truly leaving a positive legacy. Unless of course you can’t stand empathy. Then you leave behind a negative legacy.

Many people do not realize, or maybe do not care, that the hate they effuse, whether with words or weapons, will leave a legacy as well.  A negative one. We should all use the deaths of vile humans as examples of what NOT to be while we are alive.

In life we all will be carriers at some point.  It’s what we decide to carry and how we carry it that will truly define us.