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 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 what side of the tracks you lived on 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 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.

-Unknown

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