The Fear of Death & Its Irrationality

     When our time comes, and we have lived our lives to the fullest, a new chapter begins.  That chapter is death, and often times we are afraid of it.  We are afraid of death not for what it is but for what it implies; the unknown, change and leaving our old lives behind.  Humans fear change and the unknown because we actively seek comfort, stability, and happiness.  These aspects have a chance of providing what we seek, but they can also cause pain, instability, and sadness.  We may end up feeling lost or unsure of what happens next.  When it comes to death, it is different from regular unknowing and change, because the only way to understand death is to experience it for ourselves.  We cannot imitate death nor can we truly understand what happens until it is our time to move on.  This, as well as the thought of leaving everything you have built behind, can make death even more frightening.  However, we should not fear death at all, because it is natural, our destiny, and a new chapter in our story.  We were born from nothing and we will return to nothing.

     We do not generally think about where we were before being born.  This is because we grew up as a human, so humanity is all we know.  We do not question our existence prior to humanity, because we do not remember it.  However, it can be just as scary to ask about where we came from as opposed to asking the question of death, where are we going?  So, why do most of us brush off this instance and only fear death?  It is because we are focused on living our lives in the world we know rather than wondering what we left behind.  When death comes around, we think about our humanity, what we build throughout the years, and how it saddens us to leave it all behind.  However, could not the same logic of life before birth be applied to death?  We seemed to have been born from nothing, so should returning to this state really be frightening?  Maybe we have experienced death before and it is the gateway to new life.  Maybe the reason we do not remember our lives prior to birth is that we take on a new form, phoenixes that rise from the ashes, leaving our old lives behind to begin anew.  Maybe there is a new realm, such as heaven, where we all go after our time on Earth has ended.

     I knew a woman in hospice and would be kept up to date on her health and well-being.  One day, she was close to death, and her sister asked her if she could see anyone from the other side.  The woman said she did, but they were facing away from her as if they knew she would be afraid to see them.  However, based on their demeanor and what they looked like from the back,  she said they looked familiar.  It would not be surprising if these people were related to her in some way, visiting her from the other side to make her death more comfortable.  I also knew a woman who passed away suddenly.  Before her grandkids were told, her granddaughter told her parents that she saw grandma in her room.  She said grandma was talking with her but was also with someone else.  Grandma said that it was her mother.  When the parents asked another relative if they had told the granddaughter of her grandma's passing, she said no.  So, essentially, the granddaughter was visited by her grandmother after passing away, and she came with her own mother who passed away years ago.  The granddaughter could not have known about her grandmother's death, because she was never told.

     Both of these stories bring up one possible explanation, death is not the end, it is the next phase of our existence.  If these stories are true, then they could explain what happens when we pass, we live in another realm surrounded by those we have lost during our time on Earth.  This should give us some reassurance and give us the opportunity to live our lives without fearing death.  We could potentially be going somewhere as comforting as the lives we live currently.

     Death should not be feared, because it is the next step in our journey.  However, I firmly believe we should live our lives until we die a natural death.  If we do so, pushing through life's hardships, enjoying the good times, and make memories with those we love, when we pass, we will have done all we could on Earth to live as happily as possible.  A premature death does not bring about happiness, but the loss of opportunity.  That opportunity allows us to learn and experience life as much as possible, so when death comes for us after living for 80+ years, we can rest easy knowing we are moving on from something wonderful.  We do not know what lies ahead, but we can make our lives on Earth more enjoyable by preventing ourselves from believing it is completely negative.  Live your life without fear, make the most of it, and when the time comes, accept the change and be reborn.

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Song of the Blog

Today's Song of the Blog is "Faithfully," by Journey!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMD8hBsA-RI

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