What Will Matter – Original Poem

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by Michael Josephson

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.   There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.  All things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.  Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.  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 tracks you lived, 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 how 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 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 doesn’t happen by  accident.  It’s not  a matter of circumstance but of choice.

CHOOSE TO LIVE A LIFE THAT MATTERS

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