The Legacy of Life and Death
douglas hauptman • May 9, 2023
Legacy is your energy that goes on living through the next generation and beyond.
The Blue Butterfly
My mother spent a lifetime studying the Cherokee culture and just like anyone, she also had a darkness in her life too, alcohol. She and my father were both alcoholics and had heavy hands on us children at times. But aside from this darkness, was her light. This light she shined on me was her connection with nature. My mother had always studied her culture and in her later years she became a white-corn woman.
A white-corn woman is a woman who dresses in white furs and is considered a “medicine woman”. She was a healer and a purveyor of wisdom and history. She knew all there was to know about the healing properties of things from nature, and once healed me from a traumatic motorcycle injury. In a way, this made me a believer in nature’s gifts.
When I reminisce about my mother’s connection with the spiritual realm, I always think back to a specific memory of her and me in a meadow. We had been on a family camping trip when my mother reached for my hand and told me to come with her. We walked to the top of the hillside and overlooked the valley of tall grass and wildflowers.
She began talking to me about the people’s connection with nature and told me to close my eyes and listen. She told me to tell her what I could see. I was only 9 years old that afternoon but with my mother’s words and spirit guiding me, I became one with nature in that moment. I could see the fine details of the grass blades, the aphids crawling up and down, the chloroform running through nature’s veins. This was the legacy my mother left me with. I bonded with Mother Nature and that sensation never left my side.
In my adult years, my mother eventually passed on. It was just 10 days after her passing that I experienced my first encounter with the blue butterfly. I was sitting by the pool with my family when a blue butterfly started to fly around me. Eventually, it landed on my wrist. I thought this to be odd and I carefully shook it off, as I would not hurt even a fly.
A few days later, my wife and I were sitting on our deck visiting and a blue butterfly began to hover over me, again. It landed on my wrist and this time turned and seemed to look right at me. I felt in that moment that this butterfly was my mother. She visited me every spring and summer for years to
come. I would joke about this but in reality, I could feel her presence around me and it was comforting.
This encounter with the blue butterfly led me to evolve spiritually by the thought of life and death. I am a Christian and believe that Jesus was reincarnated, rose to heaven, and sent us the Holy Spirit. I always thought it to be important for spiritual people, such as my mother, to accept Christ so they could go on to be with Him in the afterlife. However, after her passing, her legacy left me with a different perspective on death. My connection with Mother Nature gave me a different conclusion for my own mothers passing.
I believe she was reincarnated as a butterfly and in a sense, stuck between worlds like a ghost is. The difference is, I genuinely believe she wanted to be reincarnated back onto this earth because of her relationship with nature and to watch over me. My mother taught me to be one with nature which is why I was able make this observation and connect the blue butterfly back to my mother’s soul. My thoughts about life evolved and my spirituality grew from there. However, I still pray that she finds her way to Him someday.
I wanted to discuss this legacy and theory of life and death because in a world growing so quickly with technology and material items, it’s important to remember that we also need to continue evolving spiritually. If we do not use, practice, and pass on our spirituality, it will not grow with us or more importantly, after us.
We need to constantly challenge ourselves spiritually because our legacy will be what we leave behind with family and will contribute to their growth as well and an infinite evolution of ever-changing connections. Our passion is printed in our DNA and has a burning desire to be expressed.
Ultimately, this passion and legacy will be left behind for the next generation. If we forget our spirituality and do not put our heart into the legacy we leave behind, then we leave the next generation with a blank canvas and no colors.
In relation to business, I want to express the importance of legacy because if you put your heart and soul into your work then the mission behind that work is a part of your legacy. Some questions you can ask yourself are:
• What will people remember about me?
• What impact will my business mission have on the next generation?
• Does my enterprise have a mission endeavor that will make the world a better place?
• Are the systems I put in place good enough to allow for innovation and keep the business relevant over the next 100 years?
These are questions you must ask yourself if you want to continue to evolve and grow. If you can pinpoint the legacy you wish to leave behind, your passion can take the reins of your business and make it inevitably soar. Do everything with a purpose and the intention of making your enterprise a world-class organization. Never give up on your dream, never stop pushing, and never stop reaching for the heavens!
Just a week before writing this article, I was washing my car on a nice sunny day and a yellow butterfly landed on my hand. I had soap everywhere and carefully helped it back into flight. I told it to leave me alone because I didn’t want it to accidentally get hurt. This butterfly was twice the size of the blue butterfly that had followed me for 7 years and it was bright yellow. I believe this was my mother reaching a higher state just as I am by telling you about her legacy now. She was finally able to move on because she knew that I was going to be okay on my own.
So you see, the legacy we leave behind will outweigh anything else because it remains in our spirit and leads us through life with a purpose and meaning. My mother helped me understand people’s role in this world. As cohabitants, we should care for each other and all of Mother Nature and respect the ah of what we are. My mother’s legacy left an impact on my success because she gave me determination to leave behind my own legacy with my children, her grandchildren.
I learned from a young age that material fortune isn’t what’s important and meaningful, but rather the stories and lessons we pass on to be told generation after generation. I want to leave my children with the same respect I was taught to have for nature and people. The financial success is only an additional support so that my children can have an even bigger impact than myself.
Money can easily run out, but stories do not because legacy is much more powerful. I often ponder, “why are we here and is there a God”? I find myself always coming back to the notion of love and remembering that love is the strongest energy and force that we can express as humans. We can harness this love energy and use it for the better by loving everyone around us, our country, and ourselves. Imagine being a man on the moon, imagine being God for one day. Now, look down at the earth at the billions of people.
Look at the good deeds and the bad, look at the wars and the peace. Take this image into your heart and love it all at once. I believe the true evolution of the human spirit is to be able emit this harnessed love. By leaving a legacy to be passed down for many generations, we are making this energy even stronger and bringing people together.
If you can incorporate your legacy and passion into your work and success, the possibilities are endless because you will be at peace with your existence
and remembrance. A mission doesn’t need to be centered only on financial gain, it can be anything that you are passionate about.
Success is a broad term because what one person views as peace of mind could very well be another person’s taboo. For example, a doctor in a 3rd world country who barters medical cleft repair procedures in exchange for chickens can be equally impactful as a plastic surgeon performing face lifts in Los Angeles. Both doctors have completely different environments and fortunes but if these doctors are completing their mission in helping others feel good, then they are both equally successful.
Success must be a personal decision that you weigh and balance. We cannot let others decide our success for us, such as posting things on social media just to receive validations from others. The understanding you have in your heart will be what takes you far in life, not what is seen by others. You could have everything in the world, and still not be happy. I will leave behind everything in my heart, and more.
Coach Doug's Blog
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