“Do not fear death, death is always at our side; when you show fear, it jumps at us faster than light, but if we do not show fear, it casts its eye upon us gently, and then guides us into infinity.”
“People only think about the past right before their death, as if they were searching frantically for proof they were alive” (Jet, Bebop). I know people who, while close to death, even after extremely fulfilling lives, would be taking pictures of pictures, frantically writing down memories, drawing out what they can; of course realize no respect can be lost for this behavior, as not many have had the cold clutching certainty of death around them.
But it is also important to expect this moment, and even visualize it; what would you like to go to your grave thinking about? What do you actually want to have done?
These may be odd questions but once you start to think more about them you will come to better terms with your mortality. Imagine knowing a final grade is coming, understanding what you can do about it, and choosing to do nothing (I have of course done this); but imagine doing it for 80 years and in all aspects of life.
Eventually you have to commit to your passion, somehow developing yourself into a person who is more than just satisfied with the day to day. If you don’t, this final moment will come, and you will know deep down whether you did everything you could, or not; and you will have to have this as your primary truth when you are guided on to the next part of your journey.
Maybe in that moment, time will slow for you and you will get to think about all of the things you could have done and all the opportunities your life had to branch and expand in different exciting and fascinating directions. Maybe you’ll think about all the love that you had for someone else, maybe your family, and how you wished you could have done more for them and yourself.
Maybe you will become so dedicated to living fully that you’ll have the opportunity to reflect on all the branches on the tree of life you got to explore; all the knowledge that you got a chance to absorb here and pass on to the new generation; all the love you were able to spread, even to a stranger; and the understanding that out of all the different versions of yourself that you could have become with different choices, you did the absolute most to explore what life means to you, but more importantly what you meant to it.
May you go out in wonder, as the voices of angels whisper to you through the ageless wings.
klooless 