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 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 what side of the tracks you lived on 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 are 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.
~Michael Joesphson
I am a little sad this week. My heart goes out to my friends that have lost their mother's , and to friends that lost their mother's this week. I found this poem at work It was included in a program of my friend Belen's funeral. To me , the message Mr. Joesphson writes is so true. Nothing will matter, but for the acts we do, the kind of people, good people we are trying to become. The picture of the Easter Lilly has significance to me. It reminds me of the Atonement and Ressurection of our savior Jesus Christ. It is a comfort to know in times of despair, the hope that the Atonement brings. No cute posts this time and no fabulous pictures. But its what I'm feeling. And thats it. The following is a small verse from Consider the Lillies of the Field, which was sung at my mother's funeral.
Consider the birds in the sky,
How they fly, how they fly.
He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky.
And he will feed those who trust him,
And guide them with His eye."
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 what side of the tracks you lived on 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 are 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.
~Michael Joesphson
I am a little sad this week. My heart goes out to my friends that have lost their mother's , and to friends that lost their mother's this week. I found this poem at work It was included in a program of my friend Belen's funeral. To me , the message Mr. Joesphson writes is so true. Nothing will matter, but for the acts we do, the kind of people, good people we are trying to become. The picture of the Easter Lilly has significance to me. It reminds me of the Atonement and Ressurection of our savior Jesus Christ. It is a comfort to know in times of despair, the hope that the Atonement brings. No cute posts this time and no fabulous pictures. But its what I'm feeling. And thats it. The following is a small verse from Consider the Lillies of the Field, which was sung at my mother's funeral.
"Consider the lilies of the field,
How they grow, how they grow.
How they grow, how they grow.
Consider the birds in the sky,
How they fly, how they fly.
He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky.
And he will feed those who trust him,
And guide them with His eye."
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