What will matter

[Romulus111VADT]

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes.
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 all 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 you lived.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Your gender, skin color, ethnicity 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 and 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 of 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.

[terbert]

There I was, minding my own business...................


Tony

[Politically Incorrect]

As always very nice!
Something too think about.

[flyboy 28]

I never liked thinking about that sorta stuff... I'm so happy in my little world here... I don't like to think about things like, is there really an afterlife? If so, how long is "forever"? What came before the Big Bang, or for the religous out there, Adam and Eve? If there's really a big brick wall at the end of the universe, what's on the other side, and who built that friggin' wall?!

Oh great...

[flyboy 28]

Nice song/poem, btw...

[Poseidon]

I never liked thinking about that sorta stuff... I'm so happy in my little world here... [

I know what you mean, although I always do so. These questions are painful because they set a comparison between ourselves and infinity and the result of this comparison is the confirmation of our lack.
But I believe it is in human nature to ask such questions. Ancient Greeks had a myth about Cyclops. Cyclops (in case you don't know) were giants with only one eye on their forehead. The myth said that they once had two eyes like everyone else but they asked Zeus (the father of Gods) to grant them the ability to see the future. Zeus took them one eye as payback for granting them what they asked for. But then they could only see the day they would die.

My point is the greatness of humankind is the avility to face the comparison and the truth of Cyclops without being crushed.

[ozzy72]

Thought provoking Romulus, thanks.

Ozzy

[Jared]

woah! That's deep! :-) ;-) Thansk for sharing...;-)

[Polynomial]

dammit we cant make this a religous thread.  oh well it was a nice poem romulus, very deep and meaning full and it should get people thinking about things . . . .

[Fly2e]

Thanks again Romulus.

Ancient Greeks had a myth about Cyclops. Cyclops (in case you don't know) were giants with only one eye on their forehead. The myth said that they once had two eyes like everyone else but they asked Zeus (the father of Gods) to grant them the ability to see the future. Zeus took them one eye as payback for granting them what they asked for. But then they could only see the day they would die.

I always find Greek mythology to be interesting. And here I thought they were a bunch of overgrown , one eyed monsters chasing a man named Sinbad through out the seven seas!

Dave  ;)

[Romulus111VADT]

I know what you mean, although I always do so. These questions are painful because they set a comparison between ourselves and infinity and the result of this comparison is the confirmation of our lack.
But I believe it is in human nature to ask such questions. Ancient Greeks had a myth about Cyclops. Cyclops (in case you don't know) were giants with only one eye on their forehead. The myth said that they once had two eyes like everyone else but they asked Zeus (the father of Gods) to grant them the ability to see the future. Zeus took them one eye as payback for granting them what they asked for. But then they could only see the day they would die.

My point is the greatness of humankind is the avility to face the comparison and the truth of Cyclops without being crushed.

From Greek mythology, the cyclops were originally storm-gods, famous for having but one eye in the middle of their foreheads. They were titans or giants, and were put in and out of Tartarus on many occasions. Eventually they became great smiths, occasionally help Hephaestus with some of his work. It is said that the cyclops were the ones who fashioned Zeus' lightning bolt. Originally, it was said that there were only three of them, sons of Ouranos: Brontes (Thunder), Sterops (lightning), and Arges (thunderbolt). Later, they were called the sons of Poseidon. The cyclops were eventually made into a race of one-eyed beings. Cannibalistic and brutish, cyclops were feared and shunned. They can be found in Homer's Odyssey (book 9), and in Euripides' play The Cyclops.

Your discription sounds like the plot of the 1983 movie "Krull" when Ynyr was talking about Rell the cyclops to Prince Colwyn.  ;D

Don't you just love a smart ass....lol.  ;D