Читать книгу Unlearn - Humble the Poet - Страница 32

Also, everyone you love and care for will be dead within a dozen decades, some even before you. Why does thinking about that bother us so much?

What other guarantees do we have in life besides death? When folks die, how do we determine if they went too early? Is it based on the average? Does it even make sense to quantify life in terms of time?

“It’s not the days in your life, but the life in your days.”

For many of us, there is a disconnect in our relationship with death. We tend to forget that our days are not promised. Every day you receive is a gift, whether you die at the age of five or fifty; every millisecond of that existence was never assured. I’m not sure where the idea that we’re entitled to life came from. Our only real entitlement is that it’s going to come to an end.

I don’t see this as depressing, but rather the opposite.

The beauty of life is that it’s temporary, and if it lasted forever we’d take it for granted. Many folks are already taking it for granted, as if it will last forever.

Respecting mortality will dramatically enhance how efficiently we spend the time we have here. It also keeps us from sweating the small stuff. (When you compare it to death, all of it is small stuff.)

I think our innate urges to create come from our desire to be immortal. Similar to religion, many of those beliefs revolve around the idea of what happens after we die, and what we need to do beforehand to ensure an awesome afterlife. (It’s great marketing if you think about it: you won’t know if it’s bullshit until after you’re dead, and by then it’s too late to get your time and money back.)

Personally, I see us as just another cell in Mama Nature. Like the cells in our bodies, new cells are created, and old cells die, all serving whatever purpose nature has them programmed for. Mother Nature does a great job of monkey-butlering us to do her bidding without us even knowing. On top of that, we tend to think we’re still in control while doing it (like bees pollinating flowers).

It’s just a view, but most of the things that affect us are based on the views we hold, and our view on death is an important one to meditate on.

Paying attention to our relationship with death is also a great exercise in letting go. Sikh philosophy encourages detachment, and it’s pretty practical advice if you think about it. Our attachment to people, things, ideas, and beliefs can be quite a cause of misery for the short time period we actually have. Everything is temporary—there’s really no need to hold on.

I don’t concern myself with ideas of the supernatural and afterlife, but I do understand why those ideas are appealing. We want to believe there’s more than what’s in front of us, more than just the lights shutting off. The fear of the unknown can compel us to various mindsets.

Regardless, the lights will be going out in all of us, and that’s not a choice. However, HOW we feel about that IS a choice. Let’s enjoy what we have, while we have it, and not spend it worrying about a future we may never see or an ending we can’t avoid.

We’re all going to die, and for me, that’s what makes life worth living. The fact that the folks I love and care about are going to share that fate is motivation to enjoy their company and not take it for granted while I have them.

And when it’s time:

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” —Dr. Seuss