I positioned myself on the dusty ATV.
Dan climbed onto the seat behind me, as it was my turn to drive…hell yeah!
Sticky from the Nebraska summer heat, our bodies were slightly covered with dirt.
I gripped the rubber steering hand controls. Squeezed the accelerator and shot forward.
It was go time, bitches!
We sped across the dirt road. With full acceleration, I screamed at the top of my lungs. Air blasted up my nose.
Watching for bumps in the road, I decelerated any time there was a risk for an imminent crash. It was impossible not to scream and laugh.
Dan was holding on for dear life in the back seat.
Apparently I have a “lead foot” in my hands!
A couple bugs flew in our eyes, but that was OK!
For fun, we drove the ATV to a nearby cemetery. Dan had told me the story of a few people he knew of, who were buried there.
We parked, then started walking and looking at the gravestones.
(If you ever find yourself wasting your life on dumb shit — just go to a cemetery. Life is short. You never know when your time is up.)
Some gravestones were simple, others were fancy. Some of those people had been born in the late 1800s. The sense of history was palpable. We saw one with a baby who had only lived for a day. One was a set of twins. One was a 16-year-old boy.
“What happened to them?” I wondered.
Other than birth dates and date of death, there was no information about the people who were buried.
There seemed to be a massive reservoir of hidden knowledge and wisdom that would be forever unknown.
I found myself wanting to know the details of their lives…their stories, the “cliff notes” of who they were.
Some graves were covered with fake flowers, toys, or sparkly gadgets. One had party lights. A few had lamb statues.
Some had vague spiritual quotes etched into the stone… promising that everything would be OK, because you could offer it all up to God in the end.
Dan showed me the gravestone of a child molester who had killed himself. His picture was taped to the stone, along with presumably his wife’s face blurred out with a smashed piece of gum. Creepy. Apparently she had sat back for years, watched her husband molest kids…and did nothing.
Some people leave a positive legacy on the world, imposing their light and enthusiasm for life everywhere they go.
Others leave chaos, destruction, and darkness in their wake. Starved for meaning in their own lives, they attack others however they can… justifying it with their distorted views of the world.
Everyone eventually ends up in the same place.
So why not maximize your joy, successes, and adventures while you’re here?
We headed back to Dan’s parents’ house.
Later that evening, his family set off fireworks in the driveway. One was so loud, it set off one of the truck’s alarms.
They live in a small house on a farm, with no neighbors in sight.
During this trip, I walked through corn fields for the first time. We were searching for a lost drone… and Jerry the dog ended up finding it!
(Side note: movies that portray people “running” through corn fields are inaccurate as fuck! There’s no way anyone could run through those!)
Exhausted from the festivities, I later retreated with Dan to a simple, yet elegant Hilton hotel 12 miles away. It was the perfecting ending to a long summer day.
~
Don’t let your legacy be forgotten.
Don’t let your dreams, insights, and stories be buried.
Allow your true fans to know who you are. (A true fan is anyone who totally “gets” your business, and continues to purchase from you, while allowing you to be you… not someone who watches, and comments their two cents about your life, and never buys.)
Share your wisdom and gifts in small, but intriguing glimpses over time.
You can change the world by living YOUR life to the fullest, and leaving something positive for others to enjoy.
Talk soon,
Michelle Lopez
Anti-Marketing Manifesto
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 