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.

Your 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 will
fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side
of the tracks you lived, at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or
brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

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,
compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched,
empowered or encouraged 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 that live in 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.

Labels: contemplation