When I Die.

I had an interesting assignment in my Fundraising class that I finished the other day. I thought I'd post it because it made me question a lot of what is swirling around in my mind these days. The assignment was to create a will and write a brief description of how creating a will made us feel. Below are the thoughts and feelings I encountered while generating my will for this assignment.


I found it incredibly difficult to create a will. Not necessarily because the task itself was difficult, but because thinking about what you’re going to do if, God forbid, something should happen to you, and actually putting it on paper are two completely different things.

When I laid out my life, my assets, my future, I realized I have no idea where I plan on being 20, 30, or even 10 years from now. I used to know. Writing this will forced me to think about my future. Where do I see myself? Do I want create a family? Be somebody’s wife? Somebody’s mom? Or do I want to be the career-oriented woman I was so set on being for as long as I can remember? Could I be both? Am I going to have a vehicle or use public transportation? Am I going to live in a condo high above the city? Or the suburbs in a friendly, quiet neighbourhood? Am I going to adopt more pets? Am I going to invest my money in stocks? Am I going to be able to control my spending habits and be less of an impulsive shopper than I am now? Will anybody even want what I have to offer when I do die? These are only a few of the dozens of questions that swirled around in my head as I stared at the blank sheet of paper that was my will-to-be.

When it came to deciding what charity I wanted to donate some of my assets to, I found myself thinking about whether I wanted to donate to a charity I was passionate about, or one that would make me look like a better individual upon passing. I thought about which charities would benefit the largest amount of people. I thought about who the money would be benefiting from different charities. Were these charities ones that I felt passionate enough about, that I knew enough about to donate to? This wasn’t $10 or $20 I was planning on donating. This was a lot of my future life’s earnings. I needed to be informed. Not only did I need to be informed, I needed to be assured that I was donating to causes that I believed in, causes that I felt passionately about. Not causes that would make me look like a saviour or causes that would name a hospital wing after me for my generous donation. I don’t need recognition from people. I need to see a change.

So I decided on two charities that represent two incredibly large parts of me. World Vision Canada represents my belief in empowering youth and contributing to their well-being and future. I am currently a sponsor of a seven year old boy from Colombia. His name is Darwin Alexis. Half of what I’m donating would go to World Vision Canada and be used to sponsor as many children for $40 a month as possible. The second charity I chose to donate to is the OSPCA. I’m an avid animal lover, which is evident within my vegetarian lifestyle. I have also adopted a kitten thanks to the OSPCA. Knowing that I can contribute to the lives of children in need and neglected animals not only will make an impact in many lives, it will also represent who I am as a person.
Just some 'food for thought' as they say..

-Satisfy my Soul