The purpose of life is pretty simple: a journey to become who you are meant to be

When my grandfather passed away at the age of 86 some 15 years ago, I was with him.

His health was rapidly deteriorating, and he didn’t feel like ending an active life, dependent on others, and in pain and suffering.

So he decided to call an end to it.

At the moment of that decision, he opened a good bottle of champagne with some of my aunts and uncles, a celebration of a life well lived.

Saying goodbye to someone is always sad, but I believe it is a huge privilege to leave this life on your own terms when the time has come.

On the day of the event, he was lying in bed, which had been placed in his living room some weeks before, surrounded by family members. Clearly relieved and ready, he peacefully fell asleep after making a joke to the nurse administering the sedatives.

It felt like a very humane and almost joyful way to go.

When I looked at my grandfather, who was slowly falling asleep in his room, which was decorated with paintings and dark wooden furniture, I realised that there is nothing we take with us when our life is over.

Nothing.

We leave everything behind, mostly old, worn and outdated stuff nobody wants anyway.

So what is one’s true legacy then?

I believe it is everything we were and what we meant to others.

It is how we have inspired through our actions and presence.

The traces of our being that we have left throughout our entire life.

The scale in which we do this is unimportant because we cannot fathom the possible impact of even one short, seemingly unimportant encounter.

You probably have heard the expression standing on the shoulders of giants.

This is about honouring the legacy of those who, all their human clumsiness included, have made it possible for us to be who we are today.

And we are responsible for continuing this long chain to ensure a future for the coming generations.

The only way of doing this is by being our true selves.

Like everything in nature, of which we are an intrinsic part, we grow to unlock the potential to be what we are destined to be.

An acorn grows into an oak; it can’t become a pine tree and vice-versa.

The first part of life is mostly about gathering experiences, finding out how to move through it,

how to interact and connect with the world and others.

This is where you spread your roots under the ground, connecting to the rest of the forest, to stay in the tree metaphor.

It is training and experimentation to find what we love and like and learn what we don’t.

It’s a great time to learn to fail, have a taste of succeeding and build resilience.

These superpowers ultimately prepare you for your magnum opus: YOU!

Then, after all those years of experimentation and play, comes this moment in which life will invite us to take the stage.

To fully embrace the opportunity to grow into the role of who you have always been, not what you think others or society expect you to be.

Sometimes, this shows up as a storm entering your life.

For other people, the trigger feels more like having a little stone in your shiny shoe.

In any case, when the invitation comes, you have a choice to make.

Will you take a step outside, onto the scary path of the unknown (a lot like when you set your first steps in adult life)

or will you retreat and stick your head down

and die, never knowing what your life could have been if you had the courage to follow your heart?

This is the moment in which you get to create your true legacy.

By doing so, you will change not only your life

but also the lives of the people around you.

Because the moment you give yourself permission to be who you are and follow your heart,

you allow others to do the same.

This is when you come alive in a way you previously could not imagine.

After the initial uncertainty and doubt, which was already there anyway

but now you have made a conscious choice,

things will start to shift,

and something truly yours will start to emerge.

Once you are on that path,

chances are you do not want to return anymore

because it feels so natural to you.

Which it is.

I wish for you, that when that moment arrives, you will make a courageous choice.

You will not regret it.