Sunday, September 23, 2007
The ultimate fear we have as human beings is death. We all know it is the inevitable, unavoidable end of our life and yet it is the basis of all our fears. But maybe some things in life are worse than our personal death. Losing someone else we love through death may be worse. Being injured and living with pain and disability may be worse. Living publically exposed may be worse. Life can be a challange, death may be a gift. Socrates said,"To fear death gentlemen, is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not; for it is to think one knows what one does not know. No man knows whether death may not even turn out to be the greatest of blessings for a human being; yet people fear it as if they knew for certain that it is the greatest of evils." Perhaps he is right!
Eighty percent of people recently surveyed believe that there is something beyond death, an after life...some call it heaven. Maybe the pain of living is hell and that death is itself heaven because you are out if hell. Conversely, whether you beleive that this life is your "one shot" or not, maybe we should be living each day as if it is our last one in a positive framework of love, selflessness and compassion, not for any potential expected future reward, but for the joy and satisfaction of having a quality to everyday that you LIVE.