How do you want to be remembered?

As the Honorable Raul Roco passed away, it made me thought of the legacy this great person has left behind to our country. In studying the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey gave us the challenge to think about, “how do we want to be remembered?”

He has done a lot of good that his legacy is what people remembered the most, not his assets, controversies that hounded him, nor his imperfections. It is all about the good that he has done to teachers, the public school education system, protection of women, and the clamor for new leadership.

What happened to Honorable Raul Roco is also a reminder for all of us about the 4 intelligences (physical, social, mental, and spiritual) that we must take seriously. As we take one for granted, physical intelligence in particular, the achievement of our vision and mission is hampered.

Physical intelligence is about taking care of ourselves. It is like imagining ourselves to had a heart attack lately and live our life accordingly, if we want to live longer, completing our personal mission in life. Of course, all of us have our time and death will happen to us sometime or someday, but we also control our destiny. Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.

We are all urged how do we want to be remembered as this will guide us in our actions. In my case, I hope to be remembered as:

• a loving wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend.
• a supportive mentor and educator who ensures that the people she trained will survive and grow without her.
• an emphatic co-worker, boss, and leader who ensures that the organization she leaves behind will grow after her stint.
• a determined innovator who invests her time, resources, and effort to her projects, on a long-term until critical mass in achieved.
• a forgiving and simple person who has no room for vanity and will always give way to others.

May Honorable Raul Roco remind us to remember the legacy we intend to leave behind in everything that we do. May his death remind us as well, the great responsibility of taking care of ourselves to achieve our mission and vision, ensure completion of tasks and continuity of important causes by the people we leave behind.