Gabby’s Paradise

A few weeks ago, my brother handed me a poem that he came across lying around our house. It is a beautiful poem that tells us that our lives wont be “Tuck Everlasting” (this is a book i read in HS about immortality). It will surely come to an end and how we spend it is depending on us. There will be  an imprint that we leave behind when we pass away. I would imagine that it would take some time before this really happens but I wonder, what will be my imprint to the world?

I am young and there is still a long way before i fade into oblivion but this poem hopefully will be a reminder for me that success need not be defined by fame, temporal power and wealth. What will reallly matter are the lives that we touched, the people that will feel “a lasting loss when you’re gone”.

Hopefully, this blog is an extension of my existence and my imprint to the world. That i didnt go by without making my presence known and my life had a meaning. In my best wishes, you who read this blog will see that i am not just an unknown face or “that guy with the video”, i am that man who wants to make that imprint, who wants to  declare his  existence and who wants to unvail his purpose - whatever that would be.

I may look back 20 years from now (or is there still internet at that time, surely something will come up to revolutionize it again) I will rediscover this poem, this dream of having a life that matters and evaluate, “Did my life really matter?” Hopefully it will.

A Life That Matters

Ready or not,
someday it will 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 shall shrivel to irrelevance.
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 on what side of the tracks you lived 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 with 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 were loss when you’re gone.
What will
matter is how long you will be remembered by whom and for what.

Living a life
that maters doest happen by accident.
It’s not a matter
of circumstance but choice.
Choose to live
a life that matters.

Author Unknown