Why I’m Writing My Own Obituary

For the life of me, I can’t remember which podcast I listened to that gave me this idea. I remember an entrepreneur talking about how he wrote his own obituary to take stock of his life and focus on what he should improve and immediately thought that is brilliant.

First things first, I’m not dying in the near future, eventually, we will but that’s me embracing mortality. I’m just excited to take stock of my life and continue to challenge myself to be better in the present day. So MOM, if you’re reading this calm down it’s not dire and dreary 🙂

I decided to dig into some internet research on how to go about this and found 1 article and 1 TED talk to inspire me.

First up was lifehack.org which outlined several questions you should ask yourself before sitting down to write your own obituary.

• If I died today, would I die happy?
• Am I satisfied with the direction in which my life is headed?
• Am I happy with the legacy that I’m creating?
• What’s missing from my life?
• What do I need to do in order for my obituary to be “complete”?

And then I watched the TED Talk by Brad Meltzer…

From the video I got the following 2 questions we should ask ourselves when striking out on this writing adventure.

• Who will remember you?
• What do you do for yourself versus others?

So with all those questions running through my head here goes nothing…

Robyn Baldwin, born July 16, 1982, in Kingston, Ontario died in the far future from a life well-lived. Robyn was known for her dreams of becoming a ballerina and a lawyer at the same time in grade four, for achieving the award for perseverance and determination after finally learning her multiplication tables after struggling for months (she never could do math in her head even in her adult years) and for creating careers and jobs for herself based on popular movies she consumed. Did you know she wrote her LSATs because of the grade four dream and after watching Legally Blonde? As you read this she’s smiling down at you if you laughed or smiled at that last sentence.

She got a higher education degree (H.B.Comm) at McMaster University, the same alma matter as her grandfather John Russel Baldwin and began climbing the corporate ladder in the shadow of her grandfather and father’s academic and career success. She will be remembered by her coworkers as a hard worker, productive, diligent and enthusiastic to please despite being socially rough around the edges. As she evolved as a career woman, she would learn to take on a corporate personality of strength, directness and occasional bluntness that was easily misinterpreted but never malicious in nature. She would continually work on her tone, mannerism and approach to build respect and trust.

Her parents taught her unconditional love and care. She would cherish the times visiting her maternal grandmother with her mom in the nursing home and just simply telling her stories when she was no longer able to speak. Watching her mother visit church friends that were in need of care would teach her selflessness and genuine care. Her parents also taught her how to be frugal, and how to be well prepared and organized to live life comfortably. They taught her how to emotionally support others by listening and they taught her determination to become an overachiever and always go after every single goal that popped into her brain.

Her husband (I plan on being married one day) taught her what it meant to wait for the right one. He taught her that prayer, working on being the best woman she could be and always learning and growing would prepare her for the life they lived together.

As a mother (I can’t wait to become one!), her kid’s taught her how to have a life full of adventure, and boring everyday moments that brought her smiles and allowed her to invest her caring nature in her own family unit.

If she could leave this world with one legacy it would be to inspire others to proactively take care of their health, pursue their passions, and contribute to society by building financial endeavours all while finding harmony in personal passions, bucket list adventures, family, self-care and self-love.