DYING TO HAVE KNOWN
For each of us eventually, whether we're 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, and 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 too 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? 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..........
For each of us eventually, whether we're 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, and 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 too 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? 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..........
