What will matter??

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end...
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days...
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else....
your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance....
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed...
Our grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies, will finally disappear...
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire...
The wins and losses that once seemed so important wil fade away...
It won't matter where you came from or what side of tracks you lived on at the end...
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant...
Even your gender and skin colour will be irrelevent...

So what will matter??? How will the value of your days be measured???

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,
not what you got but what you gave....
What will matter is not your success but your significance...
What will matter is every act of intergrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encourage others to emulate your example...
What will matter is not your competence but your character...
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone....
What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you...
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what....

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident...It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice....Choose to live a life that matters...

-By Michael Josephson-