Have you written your obituary yet?

Several years ago, I got my hands on 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In there is an exercise that has you writing your own obituary. You're asked to write one as if from your family, one from  a friend, one from someone from your work or profession, and one from your community organization or church.

I did this exercise many years back, but it's good to redo this kind of thing every once in a while. We change, the world changes, our priorities and desires changes. Phoebe sometimes talks about how we can reincarnate multiple times in one life-time. That's definitely true for me.

So as I sat down to do the exercise, something odd happened. 3 out of 4 came easily, but the remaining one - the one about work - has me stumped. I come up empty-handed. I have no idea what I want people from my work or profession to say about me when I'm dead. Heck, I'm not ever sure what my work or profession is, to be honest.

It used to be pretty much the other way around. Work was clear to me, the others were more fuzzy.

Interesting. It feels like a sign of a rebirth in one more area of my life. I've always been driven to succeed entrepreneurially, but something has changed radically. Time to open myself up to what wants to emerge through me in this next phase of my life.

If you haven't done your obituary, I highly recommend it. It's easy. Just put yourself in your mind's eye as an attendee of your own funeral, and have four people, as outlined above, give speeches. Write down what you'd want them to say.

You can also read the instructions in the first few pages of this book. Just click "Look inside!".

Expect it to take at least an hour. Then please come back here and share with me what you've learned.

Bonus points for sharing your obituaries publicly!