Poem
by Michael Josephson
Taken from the Documentary Film
"A
Beautiful Truth"
For each of us, eventually,
whether we're ready or not,
someday, it will come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, or sunsets.
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 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 loses that once seemed so important,
will
fade away.
It
won't matter where you came from,
or
what side of the tracks you lived in 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.
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 feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What
will matter is not your memories,
but
the memories that lived in those that loved you.
A
life lived that matters
is
not of circumstance,
but
of choice...
