Will I leave the World a Better Place?

It is a question I have rarely pondered on.  I loved Mother Earth.  I loved my family.  I loved my work.  I loved my home.  And I loved my Environmentally Friendly runabout.

One of the key indicators of positive impact of the life is whether one left the place better than when one arrived.  If you go camping and the place is a mess you arrived, you set up camp, cleared the rubbish and clean up after your stay and leave, then clearly you have left the place better then when you first arrived.  This is easy and simple.  The evidence is clear - you can take a picture of before and after. 

However, in life, it is not so simple.  We have our parents, our spouse, our kids and grandchildren (I am a little presumptuous in assuming a regular family unit).  How do I measure if I have left the world a better place?  Did my mum has a better life because she gave birth to me?  Did my siblings gained any thing from my existence and having me as a brother?  Did my wife get a better life by marrying me?  Did my kids grew up and make positive impact in society?  Did I make them better?  Did I help the society at large i.e. poor, downtrodden or simply people who needed help along the way?

There are many questions.  In the news, there are always everyday heros.  Stories of someone going to Mongolia or any third world country and living and helping the society there.  An ex-Microsoft executive who left a well-paying job to give the world a light.  A chef who go to Sri Lanka to teach and help a group of youngsters to learn a skill to earn a living.  Many examples... yet as I reflect my life, I just work, read, bring my kids to tuition and share our family values...I am not sure if I will leave the world a better place.  Of course, if my three boys did something significant like becoming a famous doctor or surgeon, world renowned economist or scientist or even Prime Minister, I may be able to claim I have left the world a better place through my boys.  Without me, there will be no them and hence...!!  Warped logic! 

Personally, I am happy to reduce my carbon footprint through using Prius, harvesting solar energy(40 watts is nothing to sneeze about), teaching my boys to reduce their carbon footprints.   Is the world better because I existed?  This is a question I could never have an answer.