What Will Matter When It's All Over?

"One day, all the things we collected - whether treasures or baubles - will pass to someone else. There will be no more surprises, no minutes or hours or days. Our wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what we owned or what we owed. Our grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too will our hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists. 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 colour will be irrelevant.

• Not what we learned, but what we taught
• Not our successes, but our significances
• Not our competence, but our character
• Not how many people we knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when we are gone
• Not our memories, but the memories that live in those who loved us
• Not what we bought, but what we sacrificed
• Not what we got, but what we gave
• Every act of integrity, compassion, and humility that enriched or encouraged others to emulate our example
• The clarity and care with which we loved others, being a positive influence in their lives