The choice for all…

Are we living to die or dying to live?

An age old question, whether one thinks it is best pondered by the metaphysical poet or the scholastic philosopher, it is one that sits on the mind of even the most simple of us, and for good reason too…

We may try to cheat it, deny it or behave like we have concurred it, some are even fascinated with it, the inevitability of death even our pursuits to create things that live out side death decay is an inevitable process. Our lives however seem taylored to ignore it. With age defying skin creams and pills and foods to make us live longer, not to mention our claims to fame to out live ourselves, yet to death we all go. I would say that the fear is normal, but rationalizing it does not make it normal, to further the question what is normal about fear? And what is there to fear?

If death is the natural end of all living things then embracing it as change or simply as the absolute truth to our lives may do us far better than fear. With this embrace what would we gain? some new life? some new lease on the one we have? Well truth is you already own the one you have so no new lease needed and since it is the only one you have in this natural world no new one. So what is there to gain, perhaps looking that the question may reveal a deeper truth; are we living to die or dying to live? We spend so much of our time in an effort to save up enough money to spend our time doing what we want to do, in fact much of our lives is lived in pursuit of life it self.

Whether we desire some form of happiness or perhaps we are seeking meaning to our lives, the pursuit for the meaning to life or life itself leads us down many paths, and yet the one least traveled is the one which leads us inside. Learning to embrace the truth of our own existence, our finite mortality and that of the existence of man may bring us to a reality of life we have not seen. It may have us seek happiness in ways more meaningful than vain pursuits of wealth or living forever or looking three times younger, or perhaps the meaning that we so desperately seek is found in facing our mortality.

I will not presume to give some great universal meaning to life, but i will say this; if love allows us to be comfortable both with ourselves and each other, if it helps us build understanding and connects us universally, then love if not the meaning to life may well be the means to finding it.

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