[Mb-civic] FW: What will matter

[Michael Butler]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Reeeees at aol.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 19:28:30 EST
To: michael at michaelbutler.com
Subject: What will matter

 
WHAT  WILL MATTER
By Michael Josephson (c) 2003
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



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