What Matters

For each of us eventually, whether we're ready or not, some day it will come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, or 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 owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies, will finally disappear. So to 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 on what side of the tracks that you lived at the end. It won't matter if you're 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. That 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 competance, 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 that loved you.

A life lived that matters is not of circumstance, but of choice.

I did not write this. It's part of a documentary I just watched. The last couple minutes was this monologue. To be honest, it really had nothing to do with the documentary itself, but the words were meaningful, and true, so I wrote it all down. :o)

Better...

I'm feeling better today. It's interesting how quickly the mind can change and/or adapt. I'm always amazed at the workings of the mind. The mind can be destroyed, but it can also be repaired. Our thoughts dictate our actions and moods, and I for one am thankful for a mind that has been healed from past troubles. It makes bouncing back from new troubles so much easier.

Restless Night

It's one of those nights. I'm restless. Mind can't settle on a thought. Body can't settle into stillness. Can't pin down any reasons for it ... it just is.

I remember a day when I was a kid. It was a strange weather day. The clouds were gray, thick, and very heavy. It could have rained at any moment, but didn't. I distinctly remember walking out on the back patio, stepping out onto the small bit of landscaping my dad had put together to make the yard look all pretty, and looking up at the sky. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen, and have ever seen since.

There was a hole of sorts in the lowest layer of gray clouds...kind of square shaped...and above that, even darker clouds were speeding past, giving it a rolling look. I'm probably not conveying the crazy, eery look of it all, but it was very unsettling. After a minute of fascinating staring, I ran back inside to wait out whatever storm was coming.

That's how I feel tonight.

It could be that Rich is in Spain, so close to Morocco, and thinking about Spain is bringing up memories and questions and frustrations.  It could be that I've gone a couple days without pain killers, and the level of pain in my back shows how much the ibuprofen has been masking, and that's scary. It could be that so many friends and family are experiencing snow, and I dearly miss snow. It could be that I've been cutting way back on coffee, and the resulting headache is making it difficult to think. Hell, it could be that my hair is too long.

**sigh** Whatever it is, I do not like feeling this way. A bear hug would be good right now. Or playing with a puppy.

The thought of tomorrow brings hope that it will pass soon.