A LIFE THAT MATTERS

Live a life that matters 

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 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 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.

CHRIS - AN OLD FRIEND

A SUNNY AFTERNOON IN EDINBURGH

THESE WORDS MADE ME CRY AND SMILE

TO AN OLD FRIEND 

SLEEP WELL CHRIS

"Our friend died on his own battlefield. He was killed in action fighting a civil war. He fought against adversaries that were as real to him as his casket was real to us. They were powerful adversaries. They took toll of his energies and endurance. They exhausted the last vestiges of his courage and strength. At last these adversaries overwhelmed him. And it appeared that he lost the war. But did he? How did he? I see a host of victories that he has won!

For one thing-he has won our admiration-because even if he lost the war, we give him credit for his bravery on the battle field. And we give him credit for the courage and pride and hope that he used as his weapons as long as he could. We shall remember not his death, but his daily victories gained through his kindness and thoughtfulness, through his family and friends, for animals and books and music, for all things beautiful, lovely and honorable. We shall remember the many days that he was victorious over overwhelming odds. We shall remember not the years we thought he had left, but the intensity with which he lived the years he had!