Living and Leaving a Legacy

Legacy: anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.

As a father of two boys this word has been increasingly more present in my consciousness than at any other time in my life.  I find myself thinking more intentionally about every decision I make that has lasting value almost as much or more than those decisions that are knee-jerk, short-termed.  I have always thought about our ecology and how we impact it but the older I get, the more I think ahead about the damage we can do long-term with our chemicals, our single-use products and even our gross consumption of exhaustible natural goods such as fossil fuels or even water.  "Legacy" hits home these days.

In that same vein, legacy can refer to the emotional gifts we leave our family and friends.  I seldom hear this discussed but when I look at the word legacy I am ever conscious of how I teach my boys to care.  A simple expression of showing someone appreciation yields tremendous, lasting rewards. Hospitality in any form is impacting both for the receiver and for the giver.

When we started the development of the HowGiving app we purposefully wanted to create a tool that underscored our intentions of showing care for others.  More than just sharing a 'like' on our family and friends special day, we wanted to put easy-to-use tools in the hands of users that enabled them to express their care, their love, their concern and through this act of giving, create a legacy. What a remarkable gift to leave, not only for the recipient of these expressions but to those around us that witness an act of hospitality.  Knowing the act of searching for that special gift can be time consuming, we simplified and stream-lined the process by aggregating some of the best on-line gifting stores and automated reminders so users don't even have to enter data to pull together their list of most important people in their lives.  The act of giving has never been easier!

We hope that you'll look at the legacy you live and leave in using the HowGiving app!