For each of us eventually, whether we're ready for it or not, it will come to an end. There will be no more sunrises nor minutes, hours, or days. All collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame, and tempered power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owed or owned. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So to your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to do list 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 if you're beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter?
What matters is not what you've bought but what you've built. Not what you've got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success but your significants. What will matter is not what you've learned, but what you've 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 know, 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 that you love.
A life lived that matters is not of circumstance, but a choice.
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