Have No Fear
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 as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
– Steve Jobs
No one wants to die. However, there is a difference between not wanting to die and fearing death. The question you must ask yourself is if you would regret your life if you were to die today. Will you be able to face death not with regret, but with acceptance? Acceptance that your time has come and that you have done all that you could in your limited time?
One of my greatest inspirations in life is Steve Jobs. Not because he was a great man, but because he did what he wanted. He found out what he loved and followed that. As I have grown older, that is something I have started to appreciate more and more. The ability to simply escape your daily routine in favour of following your heart is something that is difficult to do, but at the same time so great. A lot of self-acclaimed creative people will probably agree, but that’s where I differ. I am not a creative person. I want to be a creative person, I really do and I do everything in my power to be as creative as my mind allows. However, I am still at heart a logical and rational person, but one that still holds the belief that dreams are of much greater importance than rationality.
On the contrary, something a lot of rational people have is an irrational fear. The fear of death. The fear of death is natural, and yet completely unnecessary. I fear growing old. I fear the day when I am unable to do what I love. I fear the day I can no longer move. I fear the day I have to stop following emotion. But I don’t fear death. I fear dying — that lengthy process during which your bones and muscles weaken, the process where you end up with a chronic disease, and end up spending your last months in a hospital. I would rather just die right away, give space on that hospital bed for someone who wants to keep living because they still have things to accomplish. I would rather die having made a change at 40, than die rich and loved at 90.
I don’t fear death because I know that I’m making the most of my life. With every breath that I take, I try to do as much as I can. I want to see the world, not just the places everyone else go, but really explore the world in all its untouched beauty. The day I stop following my dreams will be the day that I fear death; the day I know that I didn’t accomplish as much as I wanted to. Motivation is important, it keeps us going and lets us enjoy life. But least as important is courage. Having the courage to follow your heart is something admirable, something I have not always had, and something I to a great extent don’t have now either. It is something that takes development, and then, slowly but surely, you feel yourself becoming more confident, more courageous.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
– Steve Jobs
