WEEK FORTY-EIGHT Hello and welcome to Week Forty-Eight of The Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan. We hope your week is going great. This week we begin Month Twelve - Leaving a Legacy. What a great subject to close out our One-Year Plan. I'd like to share with you a letter that I wrote to my mother on her 80th birthday. It speaks both of the legacy she has been able to create and provide for her family and community as well as the impact her legacy has had on my life and my family. A Letter to My Mom on Her 80th Birthday Obviously I could talk today about many different areas my mom has excelled in over the years and made a positive difference in other people's lives. Whether it's been her ministry, her catering business, her creative touch or her friendships, all of which she has exemplified the principle of being faithful over what you have and letting God then promote you. It seems that consistently her gift has always made room for itself and propelled her into a big place. But more important to me than any of that is the legacy she has been able to leave me and my family. Almost on a daily basis I'm reminded of how blessed I am and have been. I have a wonderful wife and two wonderful kids. We are all healthy and blessed. I have really never known tragedy in my life. I live in America and am blessed by all the freedom and richness that it represents. I drive on roads I didn't build, have daily conveniences I never invented and enjoy freedoms I was never asked to fight for. And as incredible as that is to me, equally as important, I was given an upbringing by my parents that has made me very blessed indeed. First and foremost I was given the gift of faith. I was raised in a house and environment where my parents in both word and deed made sure God was first in our home. I always had an example of my mom giving her time to the church and love towards its people from the perceived least to the greatest, she always was an example of giving to her faith. I was given the gift of respecting other people. I don't recall my parents ever exemplifying or showing prejudice towards others. I know they grew up in a different generation where prejudice was more common, but that was not anything I ever saw. I was given the gift of a strong work ethic. Laziness was never part of the scenery in my childhood. My mom worked two jobs - her day job at the bank and her night and weekend job - raising 4 kids. Only a parent with kids can fully appreciate the sacrifice and persistence that required. Copyright Jim Rohn International 2002-2004
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