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For each of us eventually, whether we are ready or not, someday it will 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 or temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned, or owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and
jealousies, will finally disappear. So to, 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 on, at the end.
It won’t matter if your 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. A life lived that matters, is not of circumstance
but of choice.