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
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. ~Michael Josephson
Not to be morbid, but I have been thinking about death lately. I'm not sick, depressed, or obsessive; it's more curiosity. I mean you come to a point in your life when mortality is very real. So much different than contemplating death in your 20's or even 30's. Oh, I've always been aware that life will end; it's unavoidable. But lately, it's more this feeling that every moment counts; that living in integrity with compassion and courage is supremely important.
Living a life that matters is really an inside job. It's about what's going on within me and how my light shines out to everything and everyone I touch. I do believe we choose the life we live and that the choices keep coming in each moment. Not every moment is fun or pleasant, but the way we choose to accept it is indicative of who we are and how we shine.
