AshleyEllefsen.com

In my last article, I encouraged you to believe in yourself, to believe that you are worthy of tremendous blessings in life.  I know first hand that this is not always as easy as it sounds.  There are a thousand reasons why you may not feel worthy….guilt, shame, inadequacy and embarrassment are just a few.

But, consider this: the average life expectancy in 2008 was 68.9 for the entire world, in the US it was 78.4.  So, let’s say that you get lucky and live to be 80 years old.  When you’re 80 years old and facing the autumn of your life, what do you want to look back on as your accomplishments?  What legacy do you want to leave?  What do you want your children, your children’s children and their children to find when they search for you?

I want my family to find a great woman.  A woman who changed lives and lived to love.

I was taught by a great man that, “empty plates don’t feed people”.  This concept helped me to understand that I need to be the best me, in order to help others.  I need to raise the bar for those I love, rather than watch them struggle.  Not everyone is ready, and that’s okay.  However, I’ve found that most people, will do what you ask them to do if they love and respect you.  Most people will rise to the occasion when challenged.  The time will come, when the people around you realize that they want MORE.  More from life and more from themselves.

The unfortunate truth is that we are rarely challenged.  We live day to day, seemingly satisfied because we hold a false understanding of security.  We are happy because we are not pained with growth.  But, change and growth are part of life, and it’s true….it can be painful at times.  It may be painful because the ones you love don’t seek success, have no ambition or dreams of their own.  They become the crabs in the pot, pulling you down.

I believe that we are the most dynamic generation to date.  We are certainly the most informed, the most in touch and the most spoiled.  At times it is a curse rather than a blessing to be living now, with so many luxuries – technology, communication and commerce.  Sadly, this enables too many of the 25-35 year olds in this country to choose not to step into roles of leadership, of relationship development or even want to look beyond their 9-5 job to a real and growing marketplace.  The marketplace is ours to own!

During the Summer Surge Tour, Doug Wead pointed out that the air we breathe here in this country, at this time, is rare.  If you take even a brief look at world history, you will find that having the economic freedom and political liberty that we are so very blessed with today in the United States is seldom found.  And, when it is discovered it lasts only a short while before being snubbed out.

I cherish the final words which the great President Ronal Reagan left us with during his farewell address:

The past few days when I’ve been at that window upstairs, I’ve thought a bit of the “shining city upon a hill.” The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we’d call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free.

I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still.

I urge you, if you are reading this to consider your legacy.  I believe that our most valuable asset is who we are and what we have to offer the world.  Once you understand that concept, develop a passion, have a dream and a plan, you can break through any challenge.  Rise to the occasion and enjoy the view from the top!  If you are a REAL leader and you have a TRUE heart for others, you can show them the way too!!  What a legacy you will leave.