What Will Matter? (Chasing Frivolity 2)




Author: Michael Josephson

Ready or not, someday 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 or what you were owed.
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.Choose to live a life that matters.


“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” - Galatians 1:10

(I read this poem today on the
"My Stories, My Testimonies Blog")

Art by Redbubble

11 comments:

Kafo said...

this is my first time being first this decade oooooooooooooooooo

just marking my territory oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kafo said...

hmmmm
this is soo true
i like it
i wonder who wrote it

you are doubly right
we have to CHOOSE to live a life that matters it doesn't happen by accident or by providence.

three lines have been revolving in my head for the last week

It's how you treat the least of these
It's how you act when the roads get rough
It's how you treat the least of these that shows who u r who u really are

and now it is a chorus that is screaming for a verse, so yeah i think i am going to go and try to write

have a blessed weekend

Rita said...

Ah Kafo, if my system did not hang for a bit, u wont have had this honour today :-)

What really touched me here was "What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you". Really, my memories will not matter in the end. Now i need to find those who love me to make a lasting memory :-)

I wish mystories,mytestimonies allowed for comments on her blog. She's got lovely posts that have really blessed me and there is no way of letting her know.

olusimeon said...

true words..thanks for sharing..

..jaycee..its good to have you back..

Straight from the heart said...

OMG! OMG. this is one powerful piece. Nothing of anything will matter at all. It's like I said in my last post "I strive for perfection only in what will be for the benefit of others". the intergible acts of love and kindness in the service of God is what will leave a lasting lagacy.

Thanks for sharing this.

Enkay said...

When it's all been said and done,
There is just one thing that matters,
Did I do my best to live for Truth
Did I live my life for you.....?

Words of a song that have touched me over and over again since I heard them about 7 years ago.

Unknown said...

I miss being here...its ever so inspiring!

Anonymous said...

Simply beautiful.

A call to a conscious and continuous remembrance to measure one's acts (& actions) against its true essence, after it all.

Mwajim Al said...

Loved the fact that you did a continuation... and the poem fits quite well :)

The Life of a Stranger called me said...

This post is truly an inspiration. Indeed, what sort of Legacy are you building up that truly matters. How so Poignant. How so true.

Unknown said...

"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".

this just blesses me, it takes my mind off all the irrelevant stuff we focus on from time to time and the folks who don't believe in me.