I recently spent time in Ireland and made a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher. The site is breathtaking — a combination of the sheer vastness of the space and the swirling winds. A key feature of the landscape are the rocks, some 300 million years in the making.

After we left the Cliffs we made our way along the coast towards Galway and I tried to wrap my head around the experience. As my thoughts drifted, I couldn’t help but notice more rocks. Rocks everywhere. Rocks left. Rocks right. We were surrounded by rocks as we traveled through the narrow, winding country roads — so narrow at points that only one vehicle could pass at a time.

In the middle of a seemingly endless amount of gray, impenetrable, and unforgiving rocks I also saw beautifully cleared spaces of green. How could something so open, so healthy, and so green, exist among all these rocks?

We learned that the green wasn’t always there, but was created by hand. Generations of Irish hands went to work clearing the rocks, one by one. Generations of hands then tended the soil that would one day be able to sustain healthy, green growth. Hands created these spaces.

In this moment I was struck by the idea of legacy. I was struck by realization that today’s decisions have a real impact on future generations — an impact we may not ever be able to fully understand in the moment. I was struck by the balance between, on the one hand, the exciting opportunity to shape the future with the sobering responsibility to shape the type of future you’d want for your children, and their children, and their children’s children.

Those generations of Irish hands would never fully reap the benefits of their work. Yet, those hands continued clearing and planting. Those hands worked through good years and through bad years. Those hands worked through glimpses of sunshine and through more frequent periods of rain. Those hands worked through times when food was abundant and through more frequent times when it was scarce. Those hands were incredibly resilient.

I’d like to think that while the Irish acted out of the necessity to survive, what got them through the most difficult times was a higher calling. Perhaps a shared purpose to leave something better for their children. Or, perhaps a faith that while they may not fully enjoy the fruits of their labor, that their future generations would.

Our world has come a long way since, but we still have plenty of rocks to clear. For most of us, these rocks are not physical ones like those removed by Irish hands, but instead are mental, emotional, or spiritual. Gossiping, blaming, complaining, taking things personally, lacking mindfulness, or lacking purpose, these are just some of the rocks that prevent us from living a completely fulfilling life.

We can learn to clear our mental, emotional, and spiritual landscape of its’ rocks. We can learn to plant fertile soil in our mind — a space that promotes health, growth, and abundance. It’s not easy work. It’s not quick work. But it’s important work. We have our own legacy to think about.

One day we’ll pass down our own mental, emotional, and spiritual land. We can leave behind land crowded with rocks — gray, impenetrable, and unforgiving. Or we can leave a legacy that makes clearing the land possible. We can leave a legacy that makes a better life possible — life filled with more joy, more mindfulness, more purpose, more health, and more impact.

Like the generations of Irish, we must make peace with the fact that we won’t be able to clear every rock. We must make peace with the fact that we may never be around long enough to see the land turn green. We must make peace with the fact that the full reward of decisions today may not be seen until years or even generations from now.

If we dig deeper within ourselves, we’ll find this sense of peacefulness rather easily. In our heart we all know that we’re most alive when focused on something greater than ourselves. In our heart we know that we don’t need to wait to begin enjoying life at its’ highest and most fulfilling level right here, right now — no matter what are circumstances are. Peace and joy can be found in every moment if we want it.

Keep clearing, keep planting, and keep focused on your legacy — trust that you’ll find joy in it and that your future generations will thank you for it.

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