To think most people won’t be remembered and that’s okay?

[NimblePoster]

We all like to think we’ll leave a lasting impact, but realistically, most of us won’t be remembered beyond a couple of generations. Is that such a bad thing? Should we be focusing on making a mark or just enjoying life while we have it?

Enjoy life and to hell with lasting impact! There are no guarantees in life apart from the obvious and so why fret over it?! Says me who worries about everything!!

Most people make a valuable contribution in their lives that might not make it to the pages of a history book but is far more meaningful and useful than pissing it away in a blur of hedonism.

I've decided to stay away from those motivational people

Just making a normal happy life seem mundane 😭😭

It really isn't - as long as you're good to those around you, that's what matters. Even if millions don't know your name.

Yanbu x

Yeah, I’m quite happy with the idea of living a happy life, spending quality time with my family, travelling, having good friends……and then shuffling quietly off this mortal coil without any fanfare.

I think the point of being alive is to enjoy life fully and live without fear. And to be as kind and loving and generous as you possibly can be towards family friends neighbours- all whose path crosses your path.

I agree OP. My aim is to be happy and content while I'm here, and be remembered by close friends and family for a while after my death. That sounds fine to me!

I don't see any point wasting time thinking about how much impact you will make when you die. My son has just died at 44. He cannot possibly have imagined how loved respected and appreciated he was. I wish he could have been there at his funeral. He'd have been dead chuffed that his friends carried his coffin. He'd have loved everything that was said about him, the music, the food, all of it. But he never spent a moment thinking about the impression he would leave. He spent his time trying to give those he loved everything he could while he was alive.

Eventually everyone will be forgotten.

I don’t think anyone thinks they will leave a ‘lasting impact’, do they? Or very few.

So sorry to hear of your loss 😔💐💐💐

Maybe ‘lasting impact’ wasn’t the best phrase but I do think a lot of people have a desire to be remembered in some way - whether through their work, their family, or even just in their communities. It’s interesting how much emphasis society places on ‘leaving a legacy’ when, for most of us, life just moves on. I guess I’m wondering if that’s something we should even care about.

Do you mean a "lasting impact" in national or even global terms? If so, very few people have the time/resources/vision/drive (or whatever) to be that special.

Sure, but your family will remember you for a couple of generations and then not, your community will move on when everyone who remembers you has died, and most of us are eminently replaceable at work, unless we invent or discover something with wide significance, or are credited with something significant. Rosa Parks is remembered beyond her immediate family, but everyone else on the bus is not, and nor are the vast majority of the other people involved in civil disobedience.

I’m a novelist, but it’s perfectly possible my work will fall out of print and be forgotten in twenty years — one of the best-selling novelists in the UK and US of the early 20thc is buried in my local cemetery, but her grave is overgrown with ivy and the inscription completely worn away. Her work was out of print shortly after her death, and she’s almost entirely forgotten now, even by literary historians..

My ego isn't that big that I imagine "lasting impact" left after my demise. Either way, I'll be dead so will hardly care. I am more concerned about making some sort of an impact while I am still alive. At least I get to enjoy it.

The native Americans believe that after death it's like the ripples on a pond, once they have subsided that is it. Some people make big ripples and their impact on the world carries on for quite a while, others do not.

I work for a funeral director and it's interesting to see how people are as they leave the ceremony. It's not about the numbers there but the fact that at some funerals the talk immediately turns to "oh look there's cousin joe, I must find out how his mum is" others start to talk about the deceased and how they would have liked the service and wasn't it lovely to hear about their time in the police/army/nhs whatever...I hope mines the second type

I think it's a shame we've lost a sense of being part of something greater in terms of making a contribution to our community/civilisation/society. Being proud of how we collectively will be remembered, for our collective achievements/values. I don't mean that as a sort of judgement thing, I think it's harder now with the many problems affecting social cohesion.

I've often thought being individually famous in posterity, is a bit of an illusion anyway. It's not like any of us really know historical figures on a personal level, know who they really were. If you're lucky, people might remember your ideas, your achievements and your name but that's not quite the same thing as remembering you. Most other people don't even really know us when we're alive.

A lot of people are misanthropes (and I can understand that though I am not and find it sad), but I personally feel comforted by the idea that humanity will go on, and though I will die, maybe people who I could relate to (not necessarily those related to me), will be alive making their impact in the world.

Lasting impact and being remembered are two very different things. Parents can have a huge lasting impact on their children's future which in turn will filter down through the generations. The reality is most parents are remembered by just one or two generations below them....doesn't mean someone a few generations back didn't make a lasting impact through migration, economic gains etc. The same with careers, your name might never be mentioned anywhere but you could've still had significant lasting impact.

I think we all make a lasting impact, in that the world is changed forever by the fact that we were here. Maybe not in a huge way and maybe not in a way that will be noticed or remembered, but it's true all the same.

Being actively remembered is a different thing. We'll almost all be forgotten within a few generations and that is fine.

In researching our family history I find myself acknowledging the impact of people from many many years ago. This might be for their ability to raise large families, their contribution to their communities via work, war or church etc. it’s poignant that 4 or 5 generations later I can appreciate their success and hardship, and I would love to think that one day some future descendant might afford me the same. Additionally, as a retired headteacher I wonder how far reaching my impact has been, be it positive or not so much!

I try to continue the memory of people in my family. I never met my great grandparents but I still have pictures up of them in the house and tell my children about them. It keeps the memory of them alive for longer. And hopefully one day they will do the same for me.

I'm on the fence. For most of us yes, I agree we will be forgotten but there is something to be inspired by if there are achievements in the family.

My ancestors aren't well known in general but they are mentioned in history. No inheritance, direct ancestors were 2nd/3rd sons but I'm proud to be part of a long line of military folk who made a difference. It inspired me want to stand up for what I think is right and stick it out even when it looked impossible.

So I'm not going to discount making a mark.

The human race will die out sooner or later (sooner if we carry on the way we are going) and then absolutely no one will be remembered.

All I care about is that those who knew me remember me with a smile. Couldn't really care about the rest of the human race

Do they? I doubt it. Most people are trying to get through day to day life and don't have time to think about leaving a legacy or being remembered.

I am lucky enough that my grandchildren will now remember me as they are old enough but that will be where it ends I expect unless unless i live long enough for great grandchildren one day who reach an age to remember like my own mum has.