What does it really Matter?

It is the beginning of a new year and many people turn their wishes into resolutions, adding feet to their goals. At the very least there seems to be a willingness to try again. To be better or to become something more. I too have goals and aspirations, although nothing like I planned when I was younger. I would say that I even gave up at one point in my life. I am now learning to believe that significance is much more important than an actual success; a success in life is about personal achievement and is self-driven.  Significance to me represents relationships, that there is something bigger than just now or self, and whatever it is lasts more long term; it means using my time and resources to serve others and make a difference.

I do think that it is possible to have success and significance just as much as I think it is possible to have one without the other. Attitude is more important than success (Chuck Swindoll), and imagination is also more important than knowledge (Albert Einstein). I have come to believe that what and who I am is much more important that the sum total of all that I say or do.  Rather than pursuit of success I want to leave this life having made the world, or at least my corner of it, better than before I entered it. I won’t leave much material wealth or anything else worth fighting for but I hope that my kids and friends find fertile ground to grow an even better place for the next generation. Kind of like the premise of the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, Clarence reminded George Bailey that a person’s life matters most in the other lives it touches.

Everyone deserves hope. Not the kind of hope like,  “I hope you make it to work on time”, or “I hope you have the perfect cup of tea” , but something much bigger and more transcendent. The hope that comes from living for more with purpose and significance. What does any one life matter? More. Infinitely more.