It is something we all fear, for two simple reasons - Fear of the unknown - Fear of the pain we will cause to our loved ones or vice versa.
Even the most devout Christian fear one and other. I recently read an article that 83% of atheists change their religious views while on their deathbed.
The concept of dying is overwhelming, and we battle with the thought every day given our disease. We cannot live in fear of death, fearing our very future existence, one must accept death as part of life. In reality, there is no future there is only the present.
To understand death, we must understand life, here are a few quotes from people who died and came back.
"Life in this world exists for us to test our ideals and learn from them. Learning our lessons here in the physical world is the fastest way to learn."
"All the suffering in our lives is actually for our good. Out of the most tragic of circumstances springs human growth."
"Our missions mainly have to do with love, but the purpose of life is also to experience joy, gain spiritual understanding and self-awareness, play with the joyful abandon of a child, absorb ourselves in the delight of each moment, let go of obligation and duty, and live for the pure joy of being."
How do we deal with death – Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. I find comfort in the fact that one day I too will die, that it is a transition we all have to make. My belief is that there is much more to our existence, that consciousness never truly ends.
Humans are the only creatures that are self-aware enough to ponder the thought of cessation of all biological functions as science would describe it. Although science has zero understand of our consciousness; this could very well be a dream? Or are we a living within a computer simulation (Yes this is a real theory).
What if our life was just our thoughts, that we dictate our future. I know part of that is true what we say and think has outcomes in the future. Having a positive attitude can change your prognosis, and your thoughts can change you DNA (Which is factual).
The fundamentals of life, DNA, has 300,000,000 million base pairs. Working in IT my entire life I try to imagine how long it would take to write 300,000,000 lines of code. However, this is not a fair comparison because DNA is so much more than code, it's life itself. I find it impossible that this just “happened” - But that is open to dispute.
My Grandfather Paul, tombstone reads “Death is a Victory” - That has always stuck with me.
It is important to note that we are all terminal, in a time of fierce domineering opinions this is undebatable. I wrote this sentiment because I feel we are at a time in the history of the world that we need something to come together… And death, death brings us all together.
The everyday worries that we carry around, worries about money, petty disagreements with others, worries about our work, or not working, about the material things we possess or don’t possess, we realize that these worries are trivial – they mean nothing. All we have to remember is that life, as it is today, is short and temporary – We will all transition.
So then what is the meaning of life? To create those precious memories with the ones we love and those memories will last forever.
To quote Liam Neeson "Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality, love is the only thing in the world that covers up all the pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in the world that does not hurt."
To conclude, Forest Gump said it best...
“You died on a Saturday morning and I had you placed here under our tree. And I had that house of your father's bulldozed to the ground. Momma always said dyin' was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't. Little Forrest, he's doing just fine. About to start school again soon. I make his breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I make sure he combs his hair and brushes his teeth every day. Teaching him how to play ping pong. He's really good. We fish a lot. And every night, we read a book. He's so smart, Jenny. You'd be so proud of him. I am. He, uh, wrote a letter, and he says I can't read it. I'm not supposed to, so I'll just leave it here for you. Jenny, I don't know if Momma was right or if, if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you, Jenny. If there's anything you need, I won't be far away.”
