you’ve got a reputation to destroy

Ah, the almighty reputation.

So hard to build, so easy to destroy.

So sacred to those who have them. With good reason. After all, they’ve invested a lot into them. A reputation for competence, for virtue, for honest living, for brash action, for being the first name on the list of people you invite to your birthday party.

And then you die, and at your funeral, everyone talks about how you were such a person of repute, but they can’t seem to find space in the coffin for your reputation, so hard earned but so oddly shaped, so hard to store anywhere.

Will your reputation even last your own lifetime? Because if history is any judge, it certainly won’t last longer. 

And it’s awfully hard to keep up a reputation for anything once you’re no longer around to keep it.

Thank you. Let’s have a great day.