Oh ya you heard me, DEATH. This blog post isn’t just about death, it’s more about life. But part of life is, well, death lol.... and one day you will be dead.
Think about that for real... there will come a time in your life, might be tomorrow, might be 70 years from now, maybe even 80, where you will no longer exist. Well, let me just start by saying, 10-20 year old Maya would just start crying if she read that statement, or honestly even heard the word death. My dad always jokes about how he’s going to die soon and uses it as a saying whenever he does something ballsy. I used to get so mad at him. HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!!! You’ll never die. Then in my head, I’m thinking, “I mean I know you will, but I refuse to have to think about it or admit it.”
The idea of death sucks for a lot of people. I mean, it used to suck for me. It’s not fun knowing you can’t live forever because what it means is that you have a timeline, and ambitious but procrastinating, commitment-scared-Maya (I know great combo lol) doesn’t like the thought of having a timeline. Suddenly I feel pressured to do all these things, and accomplish all my dreams SO FAST! I must be remembered, I must make a difference, I’m going to change the world!!!! I need to make sure if I die tomorrow everyone will remember me!! That’s the fucking issue right there. 16-year-old Maya thought that being remembered by the world is what would give her life meaning. Being a boss lady with a full family and husband and home and Olympic medals and a successful business with 10 million people knowing her name by the ripe age of 28 was what I thought my definition of a successful life would be. 23-year-old Maya is here to tell you that she was wrong. And if you ever encounter a 16-year-old Maya smack her and run away really fast. Don’t listen to anything she has to say😂 jk maybe just show her this blog post, give her a hug and THEN run away really fast...? 😂
It’s not even that I wanted to become famous or well known. Becoming famous is honestly kind of frightening to me. Doesn’t seem appealing at all. It’s just that I wanted to reach SO MANY PEOPLE because I thought that was the only way to make a difference and to spread my words. Now I know that just by impacting one person you are changing the world. I noticed that once I stopped caring who and how many read what I had to say, that was when more and more people were drawn to my stuff. I don’t know If I’ll ever have more than 18,000 of you reading what I have to say and I don’t really care either. It’s more about the fact that so many of you already take the time to read my posts and tell me about how they have helped you in some way. That's the stuff that makes my heart sing and is what continues to inspire me to write and put things out into the universe. So with that being said.... let’s get into the good stuff!
Like I said... WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE. It kinda sucks, but it’s fine. We can’t control it. What’s cool is that by accepting this, it gives our life meaning. Gives us a purpose. We start to realize what’s important to us, we choose our values more freely and become more in touch with who we really are and what really makes us happy. You’re no longer on this quest for immortality and no longer care about having the world remember you, you care more about the impact you make in your day to day life.
There are a solid handful of people that have changed my life in such an amazing way. A good amount of them are dead and a couple of them I’ve never even met. 90% of the time I never even think about them, forget they even died. Does that mean they failed at life, that they didn’t make a difference? That they didn’t influence my life in a huge way? Fuck no! They are just dead and I have my own life to worry about. You will be forgotten at times, that’s just how it works, but you get to change the world and be remembered in the times it matters by how you make people feel. Like I said before, that starts with one person at a time. Who knows how many people you will touch in your lifetime. The number doesn’t matter. What matters is that you stopped caring about what everyone thought of you, you stopped caring about strangers around the world remembering your name, or talking about your accomplishments, you started caring about your happiness, sharing your beliefs, loving selflessly, and helping others, not caring about what they think of you or if they will remember you.
This leads me to my question for you:
What do you want people to remember about you when you’re gone?
Seriously think for a moment. How do you want to leave this world? What do you want your legacy to be. I think the reason why so many of us these days are scared to ask/answer that question honestly is because we are expected to be so “successful” and “special”. But what even determines that? We are so confused with attention and success. Because of social media we mesh the 2 together. The internet gives us access to see so many people doing SO MANY THINGS, showing us the highlight reel of their life. We praise people with cool cars and fancy clothes. Young boys and girls look up to someone just because of the number of followers they have instead of what kind of people they are. So suddenly our success gauge goes a little out of wack and we are confused by what it really means... Attention does not mean success. Having lots of likes and followers doesn’t mean you’re special. Creating a multi-million dollar company or being the smartest kid in your class doesn’t define you or your greatness.
Listen, become super successful and make a billion dollars if that’s what you want, but do that because you’re passionate about the path that leads you to it and because it’s what YOU want, not because you need it as validation. It’s ok to be ambitious as long as you remember what really matters. Because what you accomplish on a materialistic level doesn’t make you better. You’re gonna die remember? Once you’re gone none of your cool cars and mansions, or Instagram followers will matter. They won’t even be yours anymore. What will stay is the type of love and energy you spread that impacted others in a positive way.
I’ll end with saying I’m not perfect, TRUST ME I KNOW I'M NOT. The “impact” I’ve left on anyone's life was probably not even close to being special, but it’s cool to be able to practice being a good person and know the effect it can have. I know being a good person doesn’t cure cancer or get me gold medals, but it helps me remember what defines success in my heart. It gives me a sturdy and safe place to come back to within myself when all my dreams, passions, and projects take me on a wild ride and I lose touch with what really matters. So anyway, I hope this helps you crazy ambitious people like me create that home base for yourself as well🤞🏻💙
As always, thanks for reading my crazy random rants! Share your thoughts with me via email or share a comment on my post here. xx Maika
