What will matter

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

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There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

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All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

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Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

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It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

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

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

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

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It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

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It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

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Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

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So what will matter?

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How will the value of your days be measured?
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What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,

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Not what you got but what you gave.

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What will matter is not your success but your significance.

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What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

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What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched,

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empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

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What will matter is not your competence but your character.

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What will matter is not how many people you knew,

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but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

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What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you.

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What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

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Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

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It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

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Choose to live a life that matters.
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Michael Josephson