What Counts

By Maria Fontaine

A quote hanging in Albert Einstein’s office read: “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” In other words, a lot of the things you do in a day or week can’t be “counted”—they’re not things that you can tick off of your to-do list—and yet they are vital, defining moments.

We must be sure to always keep in the forefront of our minds that love is the most important thing. If we don’t have love, all of our ticked-off to-dos, all of our great accomplishments, will be of no benefit.

The number one priority is and always should be love! If you can go to bed at night knowing that you have shown love, then you can rest well, knowing that you’ve accomplished something truly great.

If today was your last and you knew it, how much time would you spend on things that mean nothing in the scope of eternity? Your minutes would be extremely valuable, and you would choose to spend them on the things that were most important to you. The things of the world would seem pointless—almost offensive to your spirit. You would want to love those dearest to you, and to make sure they know how much they mean to you. You would be righting any wrongs and working out anything that came between you. If you have ever come face to face with death, or been with a loved one through a life-threatening illness and seen their priorities realign, you understand this. Everything becomes abundantly clear in those moments. The only thing that matters is love.