The Last Blog Post

I've learned many things from my dad over the years, but the one lesson that's stayed with me more than any other is this one: Don't go to bed angry. On more than one occasion, I've seen my dad get angry with someone, and then, almost without fail, before the day was up, he would apologize or clear the air. Or, at the very least, he compartmentalized those feelings and didn't let them affect his interactions with me or anyone else. I haven't always heeded that lesson, and too often I've actually done the opposite (with not so good results), but I've kept it in mind as the basis for what I should be doing.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because this is my last blog post. Not literally, but it's what I might write if that was actually the case. There's a minor meme going around the Interwebs right now that was started by Daniel Burstein, director of editorial content at MECLABS (parent company of MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa). Inspired by Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture, Dan challenged people to pen their last blog post: What parting words would they want to leave behind? What lessons have they learned? You can read the other posts by following the Twitter hashtag #LastBlog. I've read a handful and they've been quite interesting (here's one by Joe Chernov and one by Todd Lebo, for example), so I decided to join the fun.

It's not a stretch — although it's a bit morbid — to say I often think about my last words and how I'll be remembered. Especially when I travel, I often try to make sure my business at home and at work is in order, so that God forbid, if something were to happen, people's last impressions of me would be positive. When they look back on me and our relationship, would people have happy memories, or would our last interaction taint that recollection? What would the things I leave behind that people discover after the fact say about me?

And, in the reverse, what if something happened to someone I had been in an argument with? Would I want to live with the fact that my last interaction was a contentious one?

So that's why, in this context, I think of my dad. I know I get my even-keeled personality and my generally positive attitude from him. He's got the right idea when he implores me not to let my anger and frustrations get the better of me, and I wish I listened to him more often. I wouldn't want someone to remember me negatively, and I wouldn't want to live a life regretting that I could have mended fences and didn't.

So if this had to be my last blog post and I could only impart one lesson to you, my readers, I'd want it to be the same one my dad has tried to teach me over the years: It's not worth holding onto anger. Let it go, and go to sleep with a sound mind. You'll feel better in the morning. I know that when I listen to my dad, that's how I feel.

What would your last blog post be about? If you've got a blog, I challenge you to write it. Then add yours to the collection by tweeting a link to it with the hashtag #LastBlog.