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 where beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin colour 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 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.
It’s my 62 birthday and I am very aware that life is short and I may not be able to share many more birthdays with my family, so I am going to share What will matter with my family today. I love it, don’t know how it will go down. I have printed out a copy for them to take home and ponder.
Absolutely brilliant and very thought provoking indeed. This is such a great message indeed and it surely touches one’s heart and mind reminding the readers of their temporal existence on this planet.
I was watching a TV programme BBC Paul Merson walking in north Yorkshire and he read the poem and I was blown away and I want it read at my funeral roger
It’s not what you will be taking with you when you leave this world behind, but what you left behind for others to take with them as they carry on in their lives that’s what’s most important.
What Will Matter – Did you ACTUALLY write this? I have seen the same poem with different titles and by different people claiming to be the author. Thanks!
Kindness Blog 
Absolute brilliance!!!
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Isn’t it lovely! 🙂
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Just amazing…It’s made such an impact! Thank you 🙂
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Reblogged this on olivia in la la land and commented:
Everyone needs to remember this.
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Reblogged this on David G. Perkins and commented:
Amen!
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That is really beautiful and so true – thank you for sharing – I came over from Dimple who shared your post on FB 🙂
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Reblogged this on Hopeandloveradio.
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Reblogged this on Sunshinebright and commented:
Life really comes down to the very basics. Beautiful thoughts.
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Loved this
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It’s my 62 birthday and I am very aware that life is short and I may not be able to share many more birthdays with my family, so I am going to share What will matter with my family today. I love it, don’t know how it will go down. I have printed out a copy for them to take home and ponder.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Absolutely brilliant and very thought provoking indeed. This is such a great message indeed and it surely touches one’s heart and mind reminding the readers of their temporal existence on this planet.
LikeLike
I was watching a TV programme BBC Paul Merson walking in north Yorkshire and he read the poem and I was blown away and I want it read at my funeral roger
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Kindness Blog.
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It’s not what you will be taking with you when you leave this world behind, but what you left behind for others to take with them as they carry on in their lives that’s what’s most important.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What Will Matter – Did you ACTUALLY write this? I have seen the same poem with different titles and by different people claiming to be the author. Thanks!
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