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breakthedark

Fall Equinox 2004 (Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004 - 8:10pm)

I found this in an inter-office newsletter where I work and clipped it out and have been carrying it around with me all week, just one of those things that gets ya thinking:

Live a Life That Matters

Ready or not, some day it will all
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.
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
were 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
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 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.


Music Influence: Dar Williams: February

Mood: thoughtful

What's Next: get through the rest of my shift....

waning waxing

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