A while back, I wrote a piece titled “What Will Matter?” I have continued to think about it—so here is a second batch.
There will come a time when your book, This Is Your Life, will sign off with “The End.”
A time when the last page on your calendar has been turned.
A time when your clock has ticked its last tock.
A time when everything that belonged to you belongs to someone else.
A time when your life is no longer history-in-the-making—just history.
How will the value of your life be measured? What will matter?
What will matter won’t be how long you lived, but how you lived.
What will matter won’t be where you started from, but where you ended up.
What will matter won’t be whether or not you were successful, but whether or not you were good.
What will matter won’t be the talent you had, but the talent you used.
What will matter will be that you did some good things that wouldn’t have been done if you hadn’t done them.
What will matter will be that you put integrity before advantage.
What will matter will be that you refused to compromise your values.
What will matter won’t be that you never stumbled, but that you never stopped getting better.
What will matter won’t be that you made a mistake, but that you were big enough to acknowledge it and correct it.
What will matter won’t be how much you got, but how much you gave.
What will matter will be that you used the hard lessons of life to make you better, not bitter.
What will matter won’t be the circumstances that were beyond your control, but that your attitude and actions were under control.
What will matter won’t be how many people knew you, but that someone was better because they knew you.
What will matter will be that you made someone who felt unimportant feel important.
What will matter will be that you said something to someone that made a difference in their life.
What will matter will be that you brought joy, not heartache, to those who loved you.
What will matter will be that you will be gratefully and fondly remembered by those whose lives you touched.
What will matter will be that you will be missed because of the place you occupied in someone’s life that only you could fill.
What will matter will be how you will be remembered by those you loved.
What will matter will be that you found the most important things, and committed your life to them.