“Death is the destination we all share; no one has ever escaped it. Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” ― Steve Jobs
Live the way you want to be remembered. A bullfighter is facing fear while the bull looks at him. (banner image above)
Live the way you want to be remembered. (Repeated for effect)
Patagonia is my favorite place, but I never thought it could be my last.
I was trekking through the beautiful forest like I did many times before. But on this occasion, my stressed mind played me a trick, and I found myself lost. It was too dark and late to see my way back.
I thought I was going to die. My clothes were not suited to spend the night in the middle of nowhere. The weather wasn’t the only threat: that place was a natural habitat for mountain lions.
We reflect on how we’ve lived when we are about to die. But shouldn’t be our death what guides how we live?
Why We Can’t Accept Death
“We trouble our life by thoughts about death, and our death by thoughts about life.” ― Michel de Montaigne
Great endings make us remember a movie forever. In our lives, we avoid writing that last episode.
I felt afraid that night in Patagonia. I didn’t want to die. Not because I was regretful for what I had or hadn’t done. But because I believed I could do more. My mission on earth wasn’t finished yet.
We celebrate life. But death feels dark and sad.
As the great philosopher Thomas Nagel asks: “if death is the permanent end of our existence, is it evil?”
Literature has played an influential role in portraying death as something evil — because it deprives us of life. But as Nagel explains, in the case of death, there’s no subject to suffer harm. As long as a person exists, he has not yet died. Once he dies, he no longer exists; thus, there’s no evil that death can cause that person.
You might think this is too rational. Or that it lacks compassion to those who lost their loved ones. But, that’s the paradox of death: those who mourn the dead are alive. We can either hold onto sadness or turn that loss into something meaningful.
One of my friends passed away earlier this year. It took us all by surprise. We were just assimilating his recent cancer diagnosis. The prognosis didn’t look good, but death moved even faster.
Losing a friend hurts deeply. But it’s irreversible. When I miss him, I feel sad, but it also reminds me to celebrate life. He deserves we pay respects to his early departure.
I’m not just saying, “seize the day.” I’m encouraging you to live your life with a purpose. Instead of trying to hold onto life forever, embrace its ephemerality. What if we see life as a preparation for dying?
When death knocks your door, be ready to leave.
Live without regrets. When you stop portraying death as evil, you’ll start enjoying living.
Western civilizations fear death. That’s because we’ve been taught to hold on to things. In our material world, life has become a possession too. And we cannot let go of it.
Interestingly enough, when someone dies, even the most religious folks feel sad. We hold onto life as a material property, thus blinding our spiritual beliefs.
Let go of living; it’s not a possession. You can’t control how long you live. But you manage how. Come to terms with death. Being afraid of death won’t let you make the most of your life.
By Gustavo Razzetti for Liberationist.org, Content and banner image reproduced from Liberationist.org
