When President Attah Mills died in June this year, there were debates about where he should be buried. Whereas his family wanted him buried in his home town, the state wanted him buried in a national burial ground. November 2012: The death of former vice president Alhaji Aliu Mahama happens. His family and the state met to decide where to lay his mortal remains. There is one question eating me up in these two cases: Why is it that a meeting between the state and family members of some people has to be conveyed to decide where to bury them?
A while a ago one of my role models Robin Sharma wrote a book titled Who Will Cry When You Die? which I borrowed for the title of this piece.
Wednesday, November 29, 2012: Yet again a global leader in the motivational speaking industry joined the land of the silence ones. Zig Ziglar’s death at the ripped age of 86 evolved my lingering question into what informed the title of this piece. Again, who will cry when you die? Is it just your family members, friends, community folks, your nation, or the world? People come and go. But questions remain: Are you doing what will make you celebrated after you die? Will I write a piece about your death just like I am doing about Prof. Mills, Aliu Mahama and Zig Ziglar? Will the world miss your contribution after you bow out? These are the most important questions to ask yourself right here and now!
So, what did these people do differently that they are remembered differently? Well, it is what I have been advocating ever since I started this blog. Two reasons why we never forget some people: One, they identified their uniquevalue in the world. Two, they servedtheir value to the world. What makes you valuable can be your talent, skill, gift, knowledge, wisdom, idea, leadership, business, etc. After identification, go ahead to serve it to the world. With these two imperatives, the world crying when you die will be obvious. Live valuable and die remembered!
© 2012 Eric Otchere
(My mission is to build individual and corporate capacities through
knowledge-based services.)
