What will matter?

George Edward Kwong
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

“Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.”

Im a student studying at Otago University (New Zealand) and so often do I find myself thinking about what will really matter in life… Like seriously, what will matter?! With all of these assignments due, exams around the corner, and graduation at the end of the year, I cant help but ask what will matter after all of this?

After doing some reflection on what really mattered to me, I listed them down on paper and reflected on them. As I read through my list of 5 things, at first, I thought that all was well…Until I had read a powerful quote by Michael Josephson where my whole perspective on life changed. It was titled “what will matter”. How pertinent I thought…

To summarise, the author challenges us to the remember that death is inevitable and that all of the things that which we worked for will fade away with our final breathe. With that said, those 5 materialistic things that I thought were important to me will all be lost in my dying breathe. These were not things that mattered. Instead, Mr Josephson argues that we should seek to live a life that matters. What exactly is that? Ill let Mr Josephson explain in his own words.

“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.”

I guess its fair to say that life is more then all of the materialistic things that we constantly crave for. How easy it was for me to forget that materialistic things are temporary in the swiftness of deaths sand clock. Let us instead remember daily to endeavour to make a difference within the lives of people, because people matter.

Today, you and I have a choice and It is my hope that you and I will choose daily to live a life that matters…

George Edward Kwong

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“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing” — Benjamin Franklin

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