The Fourth Quarter of Your Life: Embracing What Matters Most

by Matthew Kelly

Meet with the person you are capable of becoming for a few minutes each day.

Let the young have their physical beauty. Elevate your pursuits to wisdom and soul beauty.

A good person strives to be honest, humble, generous, responsible, empathetic, selfless, patient, kind, moral, courageous, ethical, and grateful.

I wish I’d had the courage to just be myself.

I wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about things that never happened.

I wish I had taken more risks.

• I wish I had quit my job and found something I really enjoyed doing.

It also helps to keep in mind that when we say yes to what is not intended for us, we miss out on what God created just for us.

Stuff is not your friend in the fourth quarter. It’s a distraction. It occupies space in your heart and mind. Things require time, attention, and care, which leaves less time for what really matters.

If you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? MARCUS AURELIUS

This is one of the immutable truths found in the life of every person who has ever lived. We become what we celebrate.

Do you believe that your future can be better than your past?

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. ERNEST HEMINGWAY

The challenge is to fill your hours and days with meaningful things, activities, and encounters with people.

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? SATCHEL PAIGE

You’ve got the perfect mix of talents necessary to live the life God created you to live. There is no point worrying about the talents you don’t have.

TRUST. SURRENDER. BELIEVE. RECEIVE. EXERCISE: PRAY THESE FOUR WORDS ALOUD RIGHT NOW. TRUST. SURRENDER. BELIEVE. RECEIVE.