Ready or not, someday 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 are 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.
-Anonymous-