A hundred years from now

It has been a long time since I posted and what has led me to post today is the poem that touched the very topic I have spent many moons thinking about. 

It goes like this:

It will not make much difference friend, a hundred years from now
If you live in a stately mansion or a floating river scow
If the clothes you wear were tailor made or just pieced together somehow
If you ate big steaks or beans and cake, a hundred years from now
Won't matter what your bank account has or the make of car you drive
For the grave will claim all your riches and fame and the things for which you strive


There's a deadline that we all must meet, no-one will show up late
It won't matter all the places you've been, each one will keep that date
We will only have in eternity what we gave away on earth
When we go to the grave we can only save the things of eternal worth
What matters friend the earthly gain for which some men will bow
For your destiny will be sealed you see a hundred years from now

                              - Warren Parker

For a long time I have thought about what it means to be successful and whether the pain and hurt we suffer in our lives will really matter a few years after our death?

This poem highlights the very important part of why we are all new to the game of life: we are merely learning our way through our years and hoping to achieve something to leave a legacy behind. 

This is the reason why it is important that we continue to strive past our differences and hold on to our hope, because it does not matter who hurt us or who we owe a lot to today, but what matters is that we forget the pain and remember the pleasure.

I am not religious, but my friends who are part of a strong faith, put their hopes in God and wish that they may live life in a way to meet all the requirements of what it means to be a good person.

I have always sought material things. Yes, I do respect love and friendship, but I have felt that being rich and having a well paid job will help me get what I want: happiness.

But that is not true. If you are running after love, or money, give a little thought to whether what you had would matter in a hundred years. I hope I will be missed by my family and friends and that they will remember me and think about me, but a few generations later I would be a nobody.

Do you have a dream? Then go out and make it happen. No one will remember your mistakes in a hundred years, but if you achieve something great, they will certainly remember your name. 

There will always be space for the Einsteins, the Bill Gates, the Steve Jobs, the Barack Obamas of this world, but for you and me - we need to work and achieve the dreams that will make our fleeting time on this Earth worthwhile.

I am by no means saying that you cannot be Einstein. If you have it in you, go and show the world.

But, what is important is gratitude. For you to make a difference, you must make a difference in the lives of the people you meet. Change the world by kindness, by offering a helping hand where one could mean so much.

In this day and age, I often hear people complain about how chivalry is dead or how everyone is only interested in their own personal gain, but scarcely do I hear stories about kindness of a stranger or the love of a friend. 

If you are looking for the formula for happiness, there is no better place to start than to express gratitude for the things you have and to do as much as you can for others.

We all have limited time on Earth, and someone once told me that it is not about how many moments there are in your life, but how much life there is in each of your moments. 

It is about seizing each moment and squeezing every possible happiness from it.

I have been in a position where I was depressed and suicidal and could not imagine continuing. I was scared about what the future held for me and whether anything would ever get any better. 

If you are feeling down, broken and feel like you can't cope, think about the end of your life (I promise I'm not being morbid!) and think about the day your life flashes before your eyes. This is the day you won't think about all the things you did, but all the things you didn't do.

For all those ladies and gentlemen hurting in the world, this is the time to imagine the end where you have made the absolute best of what you have. 

It doesn't matter if you never make enough money to live in a castle or have a maid feed you peeled grapes on your chariot. 

What matters is that you made a difference in someone else's life by simply doing the best you could.

You never know, a hundred years from now, you could be the magic that enriched someone else's life rather than just a message in a bottle.