What will matter
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance1. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges2, resentments3, frustrations4, and jealousies5 will finally disappear.So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It wont matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.
It wont matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Your gender6, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant7.
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 not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion8, courage and sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate9 your example.
What will matter is not your competence10, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting11 loss when youre 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 doesnt happen by accident.
Its not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
