What Will Matter...

What Will Matter

by

Michael Josephson of the Josephson Institute of Ethics 

Ready or not someday it will all come to an end.  There’ll be no sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.  All the things that you’ve collected whether treasured or forgotten will be passed 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 whether 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’ve learned but what you’ve 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 people 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.  
  

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.