What do you want to be remembered for?
While serving as president of Brigham Young University, Dallin H. Oaks was asked this very question. Though it was asked in connection with his position, he applied it to all areas of his life.
“I asked myself, ‘When your children grow up and leave home, or when you die, what do you want them to remember about you as a father?’ This question caused me to see that I was in danger of being remembered for always being critical and nagging about trivial behaviors that irritated me, such as the practice of a teenage daughter who continually scattered her clothes and other possessions all around the house. I wanted to be remembered for fatherly communications of praise and love and other matters of eternal importance.”
In his recent book, Life’s Lessons Learned, Elder Oaks shares personal experiences from his life and concludes each brief chapter with a principle he gleaned from them. With 37 lessons learned, we can all benefit from the wisdom of this great apostle.
