What Will Matter

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 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.






~ Michael Josephson

i’ll paint you a rainbow

                                   

                                                    I’ll paint you a rainbow to hang on the wall,

                                                 to brighten your heart when the gray shadows fall.

                                                     On a canvas of joy outlasting the years,

                                                with a soft brush of sweetness to dry all your tears.

                                                    I’ll paint you a rainbow with colors of smiles

                                                      That glow with sincerity over the miles.

                                                   On a palette of words I will tenderly blend

                                                    Tones into treasures of sunlight and wind.

                                                  I’ll paint you a rainbow that reaches so wide,

                                                Your sights and your sorrows will vanish inside,

                                                  And deep in the center of each different hue,

                                                  A memory fashioned especially for you.

                                                    So lift up your eyes, for suspended above,

                                                    A rainbow designed by the fingers of love…

                                                              

Steps to HAPPINESS

Everybody Knows:


You can’t be all things to all people.


You can’t do all things at once.


You can’t do all things equally well.


You can’t do all things better than everyone else.


Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.



So:


You have to find out who you are, and be that.


You have to decide what comes first, and do that.


You have to discover your strengths, and use them.


You have to learn not to compete with others,


Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.




Then:


You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.


You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.


You will have learned to live with your limitations.


You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.


And you’ll be a most vital mortal.




Dare To Believe:


That you are a wonderful, unique person.


That you are a once-in-all-history event.


That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are.


That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.


And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.