活得有滋味
想要活得好, 光有願望還不夠.
不管你準備好了沒有，有一天一切都會結束。
到時再也沒有日出、沒有日月分秒。
所有你收集的東西，不論是珍藏或是早被你遺忘的，都會轉到他人手上。
你的財富、名望和世俗的權勢，都將變得無用而沒有意義。
不管你曾擁有什麼、別人欠你什麼，都無關緊要。
你種種的怨恨、憎恨、挫折、嫉妒，也終會消失。
同樣的，你懷抱的希望、雄心壯誌、遠大計劃與待辦事項也將通通過期失效。
你曾經如此在意的種種輸贏，都會消失遠去。
你是哪理人，住在何處都無關緊要。
你美不美、聰不聰明，都無關緊要。
甚至你的性別膚色也不重要了。
那麼，什麼才關緊要？要如何衡量你在世的價值呢？
要緊的不是你買下的，而是你建造的一切；
不是你的所得，而是你的付出。
要緊的不是你的成功，而是你的重要性。
要緊的不是你學到的，而是你教導別人的東西。
要緊的是你行為中的操守、同情心、勇氣或犧牲奉獻，引領感動鼓舞其他人來效法你的所作所為。
要緊的不是你的能力而是你的品格。
要緊的不是你認識多少人，而是當你撒手離世時，有多少人悵然若失。
要緊的不是你的記憶，而是愛你的人對你的記憶。
要緊的是世人對你的懷念有多久，是誰、因何事而懷念你。
“要緊的人生”並非碰巧發生。是自己的選擇，而不是由環境決定。
請選擇過“要緊”的人生。
WHAT WILL MATTER
By Michael Josephson © 2003
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 your 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.
