living a life that matters...

I received the following in email today - maybe some of you will enjoy it:

LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
All the things we collected, whether treasured or forgot
Will pass to someone else.
Our wealth, fame and temporal power will become irrelevant.
It will not matter what we owned or what we were owed.
Our grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will disappear.
Our 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 we came from or
What side of the tracks we lived on at the end.
It won’t matter whether we were beautiful or brilliant.
Even our gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of our days be measured?

What will Matter is not what we bought, but what we built.
Not what we got but what we gave.
What will matter is not our success, but our significance.
What will matter is not what we learned but what we taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, love, compassion, or courage
That enriched, empowered or encouraged others to live fully.

What will matter is not our competence, but our character.
What will matter is not how many people we knew,
But how many hearts we touched and how we loved them.
What will matter are not our memories,
But the memories that are alive in the ones we loved.
What will matter is how we will be remembered,
Not that we were perfect but instead, real human beings.

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,
A life that is authentic and real.