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 treasure 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 not what you bought, but that 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 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 is not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
This one came in email too!
18 comments:
Another good post - I like these - they really make me think.
At this time of year most people look back, this is a good reminder to think forward.
America needs to learn to move past the material things in life.
Profoundly simple and true. It gives me a chill.
Kenju, the pot I picked is the one in the first photo, in the back. I couldn't quite decide on the one I liked best and then found this one on the porch!
I love this kind of e-mails...
Wise saying and oh so true. Now I feel guilty for bitching because I never get dishwasher for Christmas!
Excellent.
*whew* That was a long list. I was ready to die by the end, which was kinda the point, I guess.
well said by whoever said all of those things. All that matters is.....
That's an inspiring message!!
I've been here several times in the past couple days and each time I get off on a tangent- checked out the elder blogger site in the side bar, got hung up on Santas and then went back til I found a Mr. Kenju update note. Today, I'm here to say hello and hope you're doing well in the hustle and bustle of pre-Christmas activities.
Hi Judy: don't you wish that everyone could live by these tenets? What a different world it would be.
Beautifully put, and dead on.
...and everyone said, "Amen!"
That's a really good one...much food for thought.
This was appropriate for my "dying day". December 18, 2003 I died on the operating table for 30 seconds. Death is not a frightening thing, but coming back from death is delicious! We all need to count our blessings.
beautiful, and so true.
Laura
I read this at a perfect time, as I'm feeling a bit down at the moment. Thanks so much for sharing this.
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