What Will Matter?

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It happens by choice.

Michael Josephson of the Josephson Institute, an ethical organization, has a great statement about What Will Matter.  This is used to help teach children the importance of ethics (see:  http://charactercounts.org/pdf/WhatWillMatter.pdf)

The document talks about priorities and what matters most. Not how much money you made, but how much you gave to others. It’s not how successful you are, but how you actually act and whether your actions matter to others or not. That is what matters.

In order to live a life that matters, you have to choose to live such a life. You have to choose your actions so that they don’t just benefit you, but that they benefit others as well.

This is a central part of the humanist mindset. Yes, we want to be happy. But we recognize that to be truly happy, we can’t just focus on ourselves. Our words and our deeds must help others too.

To succeed, we have to consider the impact we have on others and we have to take care to make sure that impact is good. How can we help others. How can we share our happiness and ensure others are helps as well. How can we make life better.

It’s about choosing to live a life of service to others, to the extent that you can and are able to. Make helping others an integral part of your motivation in life and you will help ward off any pending midlife crisis, because you won’t wonder what it all is for. You will know.

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