51 Things That Won't Matter When You Die

It's easy to fall into routines and get distracted from what really matters. Sooner or later I'm going to die, and when that happens, a lot of the day-to-day stuff won't matter: day-to-day habits that I performed like a robot. At the same time, those scripts might distract me from things that would matter when I die. Things like how courageous I was, which dreams and ambitions I achieved, and so on. Here's a list of 51 things that just plain won't matter when you die.

How many times you mowed the lawn.
How clean your underwear was when you died.
How many confrontations you managed to avoid.
Whether or not you cheated on a midterm in college.
Whether you managed to keep up with the Jones.
How many songs or movies you pirated.
How many TPS reports you filed.
Whether your facebook status was up to date.
The excuses you made not to follow your dream.
Whether or not you had sex before marriage.
Whether you saw every episode of that TV show.
How up to date you were on "current events".
How many widgets you managed to collect.
Your number of extra lives in Mario World.
The ideas you kept to yourself.
Whether or not you saved your old tax forms.
How many items you listed in a blog post.
Whether you said "po-tay-to" or "po-tah-to".
How many times you reviewed your flashcards.
Whether you left hair in the bathtub drain.
Until what age you still picked your nose.
The number of times you wore that shirt.
The talents which you never expressed.
Dreams forgotten when the alarm clock rang.
How many toys you collected.
Old grudges which festered within.
How many digits of pi you memorized.
Whether you were rejected that one time.
How many eggshells you tiptoed over.
What your boss thought of you.
Whether you managed to follow regulations.
Whether or not the neighbors approved.
All those times you felt embarrassed.
Whether or not "Ms. Manners" approved.
Your post count on any online forums.
Whether the professor gave you an A or A-.
How good you were at drill in boot camp.
Whether or not you told them you were hardcore.
Your annual performance reviews.
Whether or not you played using cheatcodes.
How straightedge you were.
Whether you gave them a proper 2-week notice.
Whether you played Nintendo or Playstation.
What place you came in in the ratrace.
Brand-name breakfast cereals or generic.
What you bought people for Christmas.
Whether the boss gave you a letter of recommendation.
What your neighborhood council thought of you.
Who you had a secret crush on (keyword: secret).
How much space was left on your hard drive.
How many nasty comments you got on the internet.
How much busywork you accomplished.