Finding Legacy Among Ruins–10 Days of Inspiration (Guest Post)

Hello to all of Ashlee and Jonathan’s readers! I’m Molly from Exploring Through Life and I’m so excited to be here today to tell you a little bit about the inspiration that I have found traveling!

I have dreamed of traveling for as long as I can remember, but it always felt like a pipe dream, something unattainable. It wasn’t until my 20s that I realized that with a little bit of creativity and lots of intentionality, I could really make my dreams of travel a reality. I stopped spending money on things that were of lesser priority in my life, I saved vacation days, scoured the internet for travel deals and now we take our family of four out of the country multiple times a year and do lots of local traveling as well.

I love that traveling gives us a sense of wonder and freedom that you can’t always attain at home. Being exposed to different settings, different people and different ways of life can inspire changes in our hearts, minds and our own customs.

One of the places that I have felt the most empowered and inspired was in Chiapas, Mexico. My husband and I traveled there as newlyweds on a trip covering Mesoamerican history as it relates to our church.

We got to visit a lot of Mayan ruins, including Palenque in Chiapas. Palenque is the site of an ancient ceremonial site. The main structure is called the Temple of Inscriptions because the structure includes hieroglyphs describing nearly 200 years of the cities history and their religious beliefs.

I was so inspired by the work that the people had put into worshipping their faith and preserving the things that they knew and believed. What things in my life am I giving that much honor and respect? What is so important to me that I should record and preserve it?

You could easily spend an entire day walking around the ruins of this place. One of the things that I was amazed at was not only the vastness (the King who sat at Palenque ruled over several modern-day countries) but also the fact that all of these buildings, in Palenque and other’s we have visited, were still standing today.

Palenque was originally built sometime around 600 A.D. which makes these ruins about 1,400 years old! And yet they still stand today, towering over the area in beautiful, peaceful glory.

What a legacy!

I can’t imagine the amount of hard work that went into building these ancient cities. Lives were spent. People sacrificed. But look at what they accomplished!

It made me think about the legacy that I am building and might leave behind. I am inspired to do more and be better when I think about what kind of legacy I want to leave behind. What kind of mother will I be remembered as? How am I making on impact on the community around me? Am I taking risks in order to pursue greatness?

I would love to challenge you today to think about that as well. What legacy do you want to leave behind and what action steps can you take today, this week or this season, to put yourself on that path? And when life gets hard, whether in parenting, careers, service, etc., remember what you are truly working toward.

Don’t forget to Pin this for when you need some inspiration later!

Molly is a family adventure writer at Exploring Through Life. She loves to help and inspire parents to reach for their full potential in creating extraordinary family experiences. For travel tips, product reviews and family fun inspiration you can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Or you can sign up for her newsletter for exclusive content!