FORBES FIELD ANGB, Topeka, Kan. -- As John Maxwell, author of numerous books on leadership, said, "There are two kinds of people in life: those who make things happen and those who wonder what happened."
Legacies aren't just wishful thinking, they're the result of determined doing. The legacy you leave is the life you lead. You just never know whose life you might touch - you can make a difference.
A legacy comes from the idea that everyone, regardless of rank or position, can make a difference. Legacies encompass the past, present and future, and force us to consider where we have been, where we are now and where we're going. A quest to leave a lasting legacy is a journey from success to significance.
How do you want to be remembered? By living each day as if we matter, we offer up our own unique legacy. We make the world we inhabit a better place than we found it. When we choose to lead every day, we choose aspirations of long-term significance over short-term measures of success. It takes courage to lead. It takes courage to make a life. Courage, like leadership, is a choice.
Our Air Force legacy is defined in how we defend America. It's the pride in our heritage, the recognition that our nation depends on us to dominate air, space and cyberspace, and our willing acceptance of the burden of those immense responsibilities. Our distinctive legacy could be, every day we are here, to leave the Air National Guard better than when we first started.