I am tremendously concerned with my legacy. Always have been. What am I giving to the situation? Particularly during moments of contention or heated debate, I ask myself if I am making good choices. Am I saying it and doing it in a way that makes me proud? Typically it’s not difficult to leave a good legacy. Adherence to fundamental virtues such as honestly, authenticity and fair mindedness usually do the trick. But what fascinates me about the act of legacy building is how often subtle self-indulgences govern otherwise well-intended people. These subtleties came into play during a recent spat I had and subsequently inspired this post. Here’s what happened.

The other day I suddenly found myself being criticized for using my BlackBerry while a colleague talked to me. What I found so sudden about the criticism was that the person issuing it entered the room I was in, interrupted me reading my email and began speaking at me.

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