Touchstone Goal

With the new year comes new strength and new thoughts. And one thought that keeps popping up in my head is, “What goals should I set for 2023?”

Listening to the radio yesterday, I heard an interview with a bright and articulate young golfer. He had just finished a very successful rookie season on the PGA Tour and was asked about his goals for the new year. He said he had written out several “Tombstone Goals”. When asked by the reported to define that, he explained that Tombstone Goals were essentially a list of what you achieved in life. Things you would want written on your tombstone.

I found that interesting, especially since yesterday my wife and I visited a cemetery in Arcadia near her childhood home. We had gone up to the Los Angeles area to preview the beautiful floats that were being prepared for the Rose Parade, but detoured through Arcadia so my wife could take a walk down memory lane. We visited the home where she grew up, the school she attended, the small strip center where she rode her bike, the YMCA where she swam every summer, and the quaint little cemetery next door to it.

Hearing that golfer’s interview, and seeing tombstones at the cemetery, made me think about my life and what, if anything, I have achieved over the past 67 years. It made me ponder, what would I want written on my tombstone?

When I was younger, like that golfer, my answer would have been to list my achievements. But today, a bit older, and a bit wiser, my answer is I don’t care what you put on my tombstone. What I do care about is… how many people can I “touch in a positive way” before I die. Let’s call it my Touchstone Goal!

  What the new year brings to you depends

a great deal on what you bring to the new year.

                                                                                 ~ Vern McClellan