How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered for helping my peers, family, and community grow to become successful. The most important value I would like to be remembered for is preserving the earth. I really do not want to become famous or rich, but I would like to be known for having my own views and a free mind.
In my childhood I witnessed a lot of closed minded thinking. For me this was difficult to endure mainly for the fact that many of my friends were of different ethnic decent. I was able to learn aspects of many different cultures by observing and listening to my peers and the experiences that they have had.
My family and peers would remember me for my listening skills and wisdom that I passed on to them. These skills are vital for interaction with others, especially people that you respect or that respect you. I think that trust would grow between the people that I assisted in the past. The trust is an element that the people can create with others, this will improve the quality of their lives.
As far as my community goes, I think I need to voice my opinion more about certain local political issues. By displaying my views for my community to see, I feel that I can learn how others in my community view certain issues. I hope that if people do not accept my views on the issues that they will approach me in a non confrontational way and discuss the issue at hand. This is where communication and listening skills come into play. It is vital to me to listen and learn why the person has the views they do. I would expect the same respect in return and maybe the issue at hand can be resolved at hand. In doing this I would not intend to change that person's viewpoint but to learn why they feel the way they do. If I am able to learn about others this helps me project a nonobjective view on the opnion that they formed. In order to accomplish this, people need patience and understanding.
I have participated in many different events to take care of the earth. In school I was active in enviormental friendly activities such as Hands Across the County. This activity took place at school. Other activities include fire suppression for over four years, planting plants for a few summers and conserving energy in my home. I think it is vital for our society to take care of the planet so our kids and grandchildren can enjoy the world we live in.

What will life be like 20 years from now? What will you be doning?

In 20 years I think that life will start to slow down a bit. I hope that living will be easier and I don't want to rely on social security. I will be 46 years old. I predict that I will have a son and daughter graduating high school. At the age of 46 I hope to be active in recreational sports as well as living a healthy quality life. In the summer, my wife and I will travel around Europe by sailboat.

I plan on having enough money to be retired. This would happen by making smart investments and building a profitable business. From these investments and the business I would obtain financial freedom. This would allow me to live my life the way I choose to. My kids would have accounts set up, so they could peruse their goals and dreams. I would not force my children to attend college if they did not want to. I would encourage them to strive for achievement in the areas that they are passionate about.

My wife and I would move to Santa Rosa and settle there. Santa Rosa, in my opinion, is in the perfect location. The beach, mountains, and city are all with in a few hours away, not to mention a few local lakes. We would have a house custom built with a few acres overlooking the valley. The money I would make from my successful business I would use to make generous contributions to the communities that I grew up in. Many of these areas are "ghetto" or run down. It is the least that I could do for my community.

My wife and I would have a 40ft plus sailboat in the bay area. This would allow us to make trips up and down the whole west coast, even into Mexico and Canada. We would also visit some of the near by islands also. We would also be able to afford to own another boat on the Spanish coastline. This other sailboat will be used for genealogical research. Both Casey(my wife) and I have ancestors from Europe. The boat would allow us to take trips from Spain to Greece and up towards Britain and into the Netherlands.

We would own a summer home in Greece and Spain. The homes would include a staff to take care make sure everything is in order when we left. I would like to help out the local people in these countries. I would have a staff on the ship also. They would train me how to run my own ship. I think that some of these dreams will help me to understand how my ancestors lived, where they came from. What languages that they spoke and maybe find some relatives that I never knew existed.

I became inspired by this from my grandmother. She has traced some of our ancestors as far back as the early 1600's. She has traveled to the east coast and learned more about our past history.