Epitaph

I took a stress management course many years ago, back when everyone thought courses like that might actually do some good.  The course lasted two full days, but there were only two exercises I remember.

One was having everyone in the class form a circle.  We faced inward, then all turned left so we were each facing the back of the person next to us.  Our instructions were to put our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us and give them a brief massage.  Ewwww.  I didn't want to touch the person in front of me, nor did I want to be touched by the person in back of me.  If it had been Brad Pitt and Sean Connery, maybe.  But it was more like Jabba the Hut and Gollum that I was sandwiched between.  Ewwww again.  In all, I found the experience stress-causing, not stress-relieving. And looking back, it MUST have been before the sexual harassment lawsuit plague hit. 

The other exercise was the final one of the course.  We were being reminded that there is more to life than work and responsibilities, and the instructor used the now-familiar adage: No one, at the end of their life, will ever say "I wished I'd spent more time at the office."  So she told us to pretend we were a fly on the wall at our own funeral.  What things would we want to hear people saying about us after we were out of earshot?  In other words, what did we want to be remembered for when all was said and done?  Some of the responses, which we had to read aloud, were predictable.

"She really loved her kids/husband/family."

"He did a lot for his community."

"She was a great teacher."

"She made tons of money" (one or two people really said that).

"She had fun" (mine, and more than one other).

But my favorite was the very overweight woman in the class who was hoping the people at her funeral would be saying:

"Wow. Wasn't she thin!"

Priceless.

Comments

[Bekah]

I'd like to have someone write my eulogy before I die. That way I know if sounds alright or not and I can say, "No, leave that out..." or "You forgot the time I saved a bus full of underpriviledged children from drowning when I swam down to the sinking bus and rescued them each, one by one!"

[scorpy]

I like Bekah's idea, but at the same time, I have a feeling I'd be disappointed, and I'd end up feeling like no one was very impressed by me. Not that I want people to be impressed by me. But, uh, well, you know.