Call To Action Soundtrack

This is one of the three minute "call to action" spots that will run on our infomercial in a few weeks. It may change a bit and the images I have added (Life Story covers) are just for this posting. The actual infomercial will feature very different images.

I hope you enjoy!

Wisdom from George Patton's Family

One of our Legacy Consultants, Nancy Gale, sent us a great article from the June issue of Smithsonian Magazine by Benjamin Patton (General George Patton's grandson) contains this gem. The whole article is worth reading.

Every family has a story, and every member's story is worth preserving—certainly for the living family, but even more so for future generations. Experiencing history through the lens of another person's life can offer unexpected insight into your own. It gets you to think: What sort of mark will I make? How will I be remembered?

The key is to start now, whether with a tape recorder or video camera. In her wonderful book The Writing Life, Annie Dillard tells of a note found in Michelangelo's studio after he died. I have a copy pinned up in my office. Scribbled by the elderly artist to an apprentice, it reads: "Draw, Antonio, draw, Antonio, draw and do not waste time."

Drawing Out Wisdom From Parents

A very wise and insightful piece as in the New York Times a few days ago. Thanks to Legacy Consultant Jody Murphy for bringing it to my attention. Writer Anne Roark describes the major insights from Henry Alford's new book How to Live: A Search for Wisdom From Old People.

The article articulates the satisfactions that accrue to all who undertake the preservation of life stories and lessons. It even has some handy "how to advice" on managing interviews.

A final word if you’re still reluctant to start the interviewing. Mr. Alford says that people are “repositories of knowledge” and the elderly “the keepers of wisdom,” and he cites an old African saying: “The death of an old person is like the burning of a library.” Many people have complicated relationships with parents, but all of us love libraries.

Lucky in Life

Tom Gilbert writes an informative blog and enewsletter called Your-Life-Your-Story. He is also a Priceless Legacy Consultant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I always enjoy his writing, but I particularly enjoyed a piece from this month's newsletter called Lucky in Life.

Have you ever noticed that some people just seem to be lucky in life? They have great success in work and love. Good things just come to them. It’s almost like they are a magnet attracting good fortune.

On the flipside there are those who can’t seem to catch a break. They suffer setbacks and difficulties. Their life is like the line in the blues song, Born Under a Bad Sign, “if it wasn’t for bad luck I wouldn’t have no luck at all”.

While it appears that some people are born lucky while others are cursed the truth is that most people have good and bad experiences. What really matters is how we respond to these life situations. We can’t go through life without taking some responsibility for our actions. And if we are aware, grateful for each day, respectful of others and willing to be part of life – living it to the fullest – we’ll find we have “luck in life”.

I’m convinced that capturing our life stories – writing them down or recording them in some fashion – is beneficial. It helps us make sense of our lives, gain perspective, pass on valuable family history and I think it is even good for your health. A recent study conducted by Emory University documents how teenage children had lower rates of depression, anxiety and anger when they were able to retell family stories passed down to them by their parents (see the story by Sue Shellenbarger in the Wall Street Journal).

Give yourself a lucky break. Do something about capturing your life story. There are many ways to do it – see How to Tell Your Story for a few suggestions.

Insightful thoughts during otherwise troubled times . . .

Ethical Wills in the Denver Post

The Denver Post ran a very comprehensive article about Ethical Wills on Feb 22. I prefer the term Legacy Letter or LifeLesson Book. As Priceless Legacy continues to grow, I look forward to developing a product line around these important publications. Not just the elderly should think about preparing a LifeLesson Book. I have prototyped one already, but the company will not introduce products like that for at least a year. We need to remain focused on our LifeStory business. It is where the need clearly is today.

In fact, I calculated today that with 2.3 million Americans dying each year, we are going to need 700,000 Legacy Consultants to capture all those stories if each one does 3 per year! . . . and we assume that 200,000 preserve their stories themselves. I doubt we'll ever get that large but we won't run out of work either!