Out of the several essays, research papers, and projects I have done in college, none were so life changing than to write my own obituary. As morbid as it sounds, it is a valuable reflection on your own life accomplishments. It brings attention to what you want to be remembered for, what you still want to do but haven’t, and how you truly want people to look at you once you have passed. It reminds you that the end is never too far and never too close. We are never promised a day just as we are never promised another night. For the sake of this article, I am sharing with you a brief part of my own obituary that I have personally written. You may notice not all of it is true to this day, but it has given me hope in someday completing my goals.( Note, this is solely a self reflecting exercise. I left blanks for personal reasons!)
Eboni _____ Nash was born in _____, Colorado on February 4, ____. She grew up in a small community called ____a few miles North of _____. There, she attended school from preschool to her graduating year of ____. Heavily involved in school and athletics, she accepted a scholarship to Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska for track and field. There, she competed for four years and graduated with a triple major in criminology, psychology, and religion. Eboni continued her studies at John Marshall Law School to earn a joint degree in law and public policy in 2022. With her degree, Eboni worked diligently to help remodel, reform, and abolish parts of the prison system. Advocating and lobbying for a change in the prison system was her passion. She lived the rest of her life in Atlanta, Georgia with her loving husband _______ and her ___ children.
Eboni was known most for her light smile, infectious laugh, and overall beautiful personality. Every person Eboni met she instantly made them her friend; she never knew a stranger. Her love in the Lord was one of her best qualities. She advocated for the broken and assured them they had a place in the Lord’s home. Eboni was never one to keep quiet. If she had an opinion, she was known to voice it. She stood up for what she believed in and gave hell to those who tried to stop her. Eboni was an animal lover beyond belief. If it wasn’t her goats, it was the strays and forgotten in the shelter. She saw the youngest life in the eldest of beings. She gave what she had, even when it meant leaving nothing for herself. In the midst of her busy life, she made time to help others. Eboni will be remembered as a sassy, opinionated, vocal yet joyful, and above all, a servant for what she believed in.
If there is anything Eboni would want us to know now, it is that she is exactly where she wants to be. And if you were to ask advice of her now, she would steal the words of Denzel Washington and say ‘Fall Forward’. Everybody falls, everybody is going to fail in life, but it is how you fall that counts. When you fall, fall forward and keep striving to your goal.
As you reach for your tissue, remember this was only an exercise. I encourage you to take time to write your own obituary. Include what you have done and include what you haven’t. List your goals as accomplishments and speak of yourself as you want others to speak of you. If the way you write your obituary is different than what you expect it to actually be, then make a change in your life. Take what you write, and make them personal goals of yours. You will see a difference the moment you do! Nobody likes to think of death, but it is inevitable. Live life as if today was the last day. Make your obituary one worth reading.
