How will people remember you?
Some days I find it helps just to slow down, read this and then take a look at where my life is going.
SO WHAT WILL MATTER AT THE END OF THE DAY?
Ready or not, some day 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 and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you 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 track you lived.
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 and 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 people feel a lasting loss when you are 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 does not happen by accident
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice
Choose to live a life that matters.
Michael Josephson