A Life That Matters

Some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunsets, no minutes, hours or days. Everything you have collected, either treasured or long-forgoten, will pass to someone else.

Your money, 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 disappear.

So will your dreams, hopes, ambitions, and plans.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from, what street you lived on, or what kind of house you lived in.

It won't matter if you were beautiful, brilliant, or talented.

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 your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

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 are gone.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, and sacrifice that empowered, enriched or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter are the memories that live in those who loved you.

Living a life that matters is not by circumstance, but by choice.

It is my sincerest prayer to live a life that matters.

Living Your Purpose

Somewhere in you is a dream. It's probably buried deeply under all the day-to-day concerns, yet somewhere in you it lives. It's not at all practical, and it's probably a little outrageous. Even so, it energizes your spirit like nothing else can. It rises to the surface every now and then. And when it does, for a short while, the years melt away and you touch that place where everything seems possible. Then it usually sinks back down under the surface of your awareness. And there it waits, patiently, never losing its hope or its luster. Your dream, as crazy and impractical as it may seem, is trying to tell you something. Your dream, with its promise that you all too quickly, all too often dismiss, wants to tell you who you are. It is time to truly listen to what it has to say? It is time to follow that dream, and live the purpose with which you're blessed.