Most people don’t go about their day thinking about their death; I’m sure everyone reading this doesn’t think they are going to die anytime soon. I hope everyone of you enjoy a happy, prosperous life, dying of natural causes one day in the distant future; but the harsh reality is, it’s impossible everyone reading this will meet their end in that way: across the world, people die literally every second; we just happen to lucky enough not to be one of them — at this time.
If you take a look at the CDC website, the average life expectancy for both sexes in America is 77.5 years. Typically, women live five years longer than men for various reasons, but I decided to use the average and make it an even number for the sake of effect — reminding you of your mortality, and how many little days you have remaining on this earth.
I’m 40 years old, so I’m already halfway toward my inevitable end, unless I die in some accident or get killed by someone. I don’t think I’m the kind of person who’s going to live a long life, not because I engage in risky activity or I’m not physically healthy, but due to the nature of my “work” here; people like me typically end up getting taken out. But I’m not delusional enough to think I’m that important to be assassinated by the enemy; although, after being swatted nine times in four days, it’s clear they would have liked it if their Zogbots “accidently” eliminated me.
Overcome the Fear
I want you to deeply ponder about your death, and realize that you will one day no longer exist, just like the countless people who have died before you. I find it easy to visualize this long chain of death by remembering all my loved ones who have passed away, and imagine them mourning the passing of their loved ones, regressing all the way down to the origins of our a species. My Lord, so much death! Are they in Heaven? I don’t know. Regardless, afterlife or not, this life will surely end.
I think what matters is not worrying about where you’re going after you die, but making sure you do what is right while you’re alive. I’m not sure if there is an afterlife, but let’s assume there is: do you think you’ll be rewarded for not doing the right thing in this life? Moreover, if you are afraid of death, it will be used to keep you enslaved and prevent you from stopping all the evildoers from creating hell on earth. Why would any righteous and just god reward you for allowing this to happen? Shouldn’t you be willing to the the right thing, believing if you did die in the process, you’d join God in the afterlife, forever?
If there isn’t an afterlife, then it will probably be like going to sleep and never waking up again. We all go to sleep, but none us experience the moment we fall asleep. If you’ve gone under general anesthesia, even counting down with the surgeon and knowing you’re about to go under, you don’t experience the moment you do — death will probably be like this.
Another way to come to terms with death is to think of nonexistence, by going back in time and try to imagine having an experience before you were born: notice that there is nothing for you to experience because there was no observer to have an experience. You see, no afterlife means there will be no one left to experience anything; it’s not like you’ll be floating in complete darkness, for it is impossible to experience a nonexperience.
“But if I’m going to die and not get rewarded for doing the right thing, why do it?”
The reason you should do the right thing even if there is no afterlife, is for the sake of the rest of humanity, especially if you have children. Why would you bring beings into this world of suffering, and leave them in a world which is worse off? Shouldn’t you strive to improve this world, which helps you and everyone else, especially if there is no heavenly world after this one?
In either case, there’s no reason to fear death, nor allow it to excuse from doing what’s right!
What’s Your Choice?
Now, if you want to live a long, comfortable life as a slave, then obey your masters and don’t even bother being involved in this fight. But, if you truly want to be free, you have to put your life on the line and make the necessary sacrifices to help our cause. Thankfully, our struggle isn’t a kinetic one — yet, which is why no one is asking you to literally put your life on the line. However, you have to at least put something on the line to make a difference, otherwise our enemies will take full control and our fight will become kinetic; at that point, all of our lives will literally be on the line. So, it’s either take some risks now while the enemy doesn’t have death squads hunting all of us down yet, or make no sacrifices at this time and guarantee they will be hunting us all later.
As as Stoic, I don’t worry about my death because I’ve thought about it so much, rationalized it, and have fully accepted my fate, to the point it has become liberating. I am free because I don’t care if being involved in this fight gets me killed; I consider myself a dead man walking. Whether I die now or later, the day of my death will come, and it will only take a moment; whether it takes two months to get that moment, or two decades to get to that moment, that moment will still only be a moment.
So, when I realized that I’m dead no matter what, the question I asked myself is if I wanted to live the life of a coward doing the wrong thing, or live the life of a free man and perhaps die in the process of doing the right thing? I chose to do the latter.
What will you choose?
Aa yes indeed, memento mori: "remember you must die".
I LOVE this commentary! I spend a lot of time alone, and alone in nature. It’s beautiful to me. Being alone, (not lonely) I find solace and comfort. I contemplate death daily, in a healthy way. Accepting death (pain/suffering) truly IS liberating!!!!
So many people cannot talk about death. Why? Face your mortality! Look at a beautiful flower…a week later it’s dead. But it gave beauty and energy to this world. That IS life!