>
>What Will Matter
>
>
>
>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 are 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.