Do you fear death?
Someone I listen to speak recently had this question posed to him. His answer
“Don’t live in fear just kill yourself already”
Paraphrased a little but you get the point. Makes sense if you think about it. Do not walk around living in fear of something that will come for you. It has been inescapable for every man in history thus far.
No single person ever has lived forever.
The fact that you will die should be of no surprise to you. But should be a motivator.
Steve Jobs
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”
Remember no matter how much life you have left, death will be soon in the grand scheme of things. Only you can make the choices that can change you life. People can cause things to happen in your life that will change it, but ultimately you are responsible for how you react or act to the stimuli given to you.
After reading this close your eyes and imagine the following scenario,
A large man, walks into the busy street without looking, you see him stumble into traffic, as the vehicle gets closer to his body it all goes in slow motion. A horrible accident, a disturbing scene, those who witness it are forever changed, as is the man who was hit.
He ends up paralyzed.
He work his life back into reality, doesn’t let it stop him, not being able to use his legs. Learns computers, programming. In five years his life is way better off then it was going in the first place, even with good legs to stand on. For him LIFE is good.
The driver who almost killed him, not so good. She cannot overcome the image in her head every night, his body hitting the car, then the pavement. She needs to drink to cope. She fears death every day. Lives in fear and depression. Her body is in perfect condition, except for the liver, slowly getting pickled. Alcohol now her only way to survive. She drinks and drinks.
For her DEATH is welcome.
It cannot come fast enough.
Read that story and you can substitute any trauma, minor or major. And the alcohol with any other substance. It could be food, someone eating themselves into welcoming DEATH. Letting their health go slowly. It could be drugs, legal or illegal, an obsession with an object, an ex lover or current one.
They will let events take control of their lives and live in fear forever. Live in the “what if negative world ” not the “what if positive world.”
- Better not say anything to the boss what if I get fired
- I am going to say something to my boss, what is I get a raise
- I am not going to talk to her what if she doesn’t like me
- I am going to talk to her , what if I get her number
- I am not starting that new project I don’t know enough , what if I fail
- I am taking on the project even though I don’t know all the steps, what if I make a million dollars
You see the flip side to everything. And always live in the present future outlook. The past is gone and really might not have ever existed, as our memories are manufactured during recall(another article for this topic). So live in the now, or plan fr the future.
Yes the man who ended up paralyzed could have made a better decision that day. But the one he made changed his life for the better. He just couldn’t see it yet. He also changed the drivers life, as she was forever changed and let it take control of her. She let the relatively minor trauma for her essentially kill her.
He took a major life trauma and turned his life around. His life is daily earned and hers is drowned away.
What can you take away from this?
Decide after reading this that you will commit to three distinctive actions to better your life. Here are some thing that you can do:
- Take a walk instead of watching TV
- Read a book
- Start that project
- Sign up for that class you have been looking at
- Phone up that old friend who you have been thinking about
- Tel the truth to someone when they ask you instead of what you think they want to hear.
- Put down you cell phone for a day
- Play with your children , in their world
- Give someone something they really need
- Commit to doing ten pushups every hour on the hour( not a lot but over the day 160 to 180)
- Sign yourself up for a trip that will be an adventure
- Quit drinking
- Cut sugar out of your diet
- Do some volunteer work, there are a lot of places that will accept free labour
- Purge your house of unneeded items, there are a lot of things taking up space in your life.
- Look in the mirror about yourself by getting a strangers opinion of you
- Smile all day even if you are angry
- Give ten compliments today to people you rarely see
- Give yourself a pat on the back
- Write down the ten things you are most proud of yourself for.
I can make this list go on for a long time probably even to a hundred and one things. But you get the point. Make a list of things that will make your life better and other around you. You will start to find the motivation to keep pushing forward.
Men are like sharks, once they stop moving they start dying.
Be a shark.