Live a Life That Matters..

What Will Matter
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 what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustations,
and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans,
and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and looses
that once seemed so important
will fade away.

It wont matter where it came from,
or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.

It wont matter whether you were beautiful or brillant.
Even your gender and skin 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 confidence,
but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting lost when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories,
but the memories that live in those who love 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!

Author: Michael Josephson
Song Playing: "You'll never walk alone"
Original Composers: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II


Compiled from the email forwarded by:

Sis. Mila Aldema-Ramos, PhD
USDA-ERRC Agricultural
Research Service, PA 19002
Email: miladema@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.usda.gov/