A Life That Matters

I read this on a message board where I am an active member. I thought it worthy to share here.

Live A Life That Matters

• Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, no 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 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.

Author - Michael Josephson