This is the quote by which I want people to remember me

I've always wanted to be one of those people who says something really wise, and then my words get passed around through social media and everyone says, "That's great advice! I'm showing this to my kids."

The problem is that you have to come up with something that is both profound and original.

I think I might be able to do "profound." But everything I come up with that can be described as profound has, in almost every case, been said before by someone else.

I realized I was probably trying too hard at this, and that if I ever had something to say that was quote-worthy, something you would want to make into a poignant Facebook meme, it would have to come to me spontaneously. It would need to be natural, a product of my own experience and accumulated wisdom.

So I waited.

I waited for years. And then a few weeks ago it came to me.

I was trying to think of ways in which to inspire my son Jared to keep working out and preparing himself for the upcoming high school soccer season. I wanted to convey the idea that hard work and dogged effort are responsible for most success in the world.

And this is what I came up with. This is – I think – my one original quote. This is the one thing I want people to read and think to themselves, "That's so true. I need to share this."And when they share it, I want to have my name attached to it.

Here it is:

"If you're not going to expect a lot from yourself, you can't expect a lot from life."

Huh? Huh? What do you think? Not bad?  I mean, it's not on the level of Teddy Roosevelt or Wilson from "Home Improvement" or anything, but I think it's tweet-worthy, no?

So there it is. At the age of 45, I have found my quote. I'm not good enough to have more than one, so this is going to be it.

I see all sorts of uses for it. I want it on my headstone, of course, and as mentioned I want it plastered on social media. But there are other possibilities beyond that. It could be included in a cheesy paperback compilation of inspirational platitudes. Or printed on a t-shirt you get at the Hallmark Store. Or tattooed on the arm of a kid who places sixth in the 100 meters at some state track and field meet and who suddenly sees himself as an Olympic athlete.

I have found my place in immortality. Feel free to share.