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To my friends
By the time you come to the end of your life, there is little you can do to change the impact that you have had on others - be they friends, family, strangers, animals, and the air we breathe. You could lay to rest old feuds, show people that you didn't really mean what you said, be forgiven by those that were angry with you; but you have already trodden a physical path between your coming and your going, and that is not going to be undone.
Self evaluation is an important part of what keeps people motivated; after all, if I'm not going to do good things during my life, then when else am I going to do them? Maybe you believe in an afterlife - that you can repent your actions (or lack of them) on your deathbed. We all have our right to beliefs and wishes, but whatever may happen to your soul after you are gone has nothing to do with what will continue to happen in the physical world.
The point I am trying to make is that, because the mere fact of sharing a world with other living creatures has an impact on their lives - however small - and that humans are at the very top of the global ecological network, it really does matter what kind of life we lead.
I am not trying to judge individual actions here - most of us would enjoy a holiday in a far-off country, and revel in a beautiful view from our bedroom window - or how much money people earn: I am judging the motivation of everyone who inhabits this planet. I believe the goodness of our lives is determined by what motivates us.
What motivates an individual in their life may range from survival, through to living in the lap of luxury; from having so much more than everyone else - money, status, material goods - to wanting all things to be equal; from saving oneself to saving the planet.
I can't begin to say how much I admire people who give up all their worldly goods to fight for a cause they really believe in, and put up with the constant shouts of "get a job" and "get a life" from others, that seems to come with the territory. The protestor believes that some things are far more important than wealth and the accumulation of consumer goods. But to very many people, the sole motivation in life is to go from one life stage to another - job, house, children, retirement - and then what?
After the achievements have been counted; the house, holidays, cars, TVs and savings added together; what is there to show for a life in which little thought was ever given for the people outside your immediate family and circle of friends, and the world beyond your doorstep?
If you need to change, I hope you still have time.