By Michael Josephson
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 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 colour 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 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 doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
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 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 colour 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 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 doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
For the past almost ten years, my Saturday afternoons have been spent with some young ones - whether in a talk, in a bible study class or cooking - it has enriched and added colours to my life. Yesterday a co-worker said she could not make it this afternoon and she had prepared to teach a craft to the class! Oh dear, craft? She assured, "It's simple."
Well, it really does not matter whether I can do the craft - it's the time shared with the young ones that matter!
Well, it really does not matter whether I can do the craft - it's the time shared with the young ones that matter!
Watch the movie here
6 comments:
From dust thou art made, and unto dust thou shalt return... It is not how much material wealth we can accumulate that is important, but how spritually wealthy we can be - in thought, word and deed.
A timely word of wisdom just when I'm feeling rather lost presently.
I guess, we go as we come, with nothing to our name, except what we have done!!
suituapui,
Thank you for adding in those insights and truth.
iml,
Yes, it just came into my mail box when I felt very "lousy". And I thought I must also pass it on. Glad that it's timely for you too.
SAHM,
Yes, the length of the dash between the dates on our tombstone is short. That is enough to remind that life is short. Life's an inch! What we are doing with that "dash" matters!
Let's be reminded!
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