Death — a tragedy or motivation?
I recently lost my grandmother. She got 87 years old.

She had Alzheimer’s disease. The nursery home wouldn’t take her because of her illness. She got worse and worse and had no life in the end. She was strong until the last moment. It is not like we were that close. Once I was informed, she had died, I still burst into a tear.
Instead of looking at the tragedy of it, I instead began looking at it from another perspective. It got me thinking about the subject of death and the lesson of not taking life for granted.
Death is a natural part of life
I feel like death is often a taboo in our society. The fact is that we are all going to die, yet we never seem to talk about it openly. Whenever it is brought up it is often related to something gruesome. Death is often associated with getting filled with tears, sad moments and depressive states. Especially if death happens close to us e.g. family members, close friends, or even lovers.

As logical beings, death is a subject we have a hard time relating to. It is like trying to understand a 3D perspective coming from a 2D perspective. You just can’t grasp the idea of it. Nobody knows what happens after death. We can’t possibly tell as we can’t pass on our experience of it. Without real facts, we can only believe. Some people believe there is life after death. Others don’t.
Truth is, we shouldn’t fear death. Death is nothing but a natural part of life. Without death, life wouldn’t exist. Just like there would be no light without darkness and vice versa. There is always a backside of life for life to uphold its natural balance often referred to as karma.
Don’t try to evade death. You can’t. Death is inevitable and you are going to die. That’s a fact. In life we have finite time to be alive. Don’t think that the people close to you always will be around. Don’t think that you are invincible. Death can creep up on you. In a blink of an eye, your life could be taken away from you.
Have the end in mind
The most typical deathbed sentence starts with “I wish…”.
It’s regret. Regret of the missed opportunities we could have made in our life. Regret of the people we didn’t keep in contact with. Regret of not staying true to ourselves and expressing our true feelings to ourselves or others.
The Australian author Bronnie Ware has written a book about the top 5 regrets of the dying, which are:
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I didn’t work so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This leads to some important questions to ask yourself. Imagine yourself on your deathbed.
- If you lived the same way you currently are living, what would your regrets be?
- What would you do differently today if you knew you would pass away tomorrow?
- What do you want to be written on your tombstone?
- How many people do you think are going to show up to your funeral?
Take this into perspective of how you are living your everyday life.
Induce wake-up calls
Most people just go on with their everyday life. Living in a routine. Working 9–5. Finding the smallest problems in everything. Acting as if their minor problems are crucial. They get caught up in the small stuff.
The lesson here is not to sweat the small stuff. I promise you, once your life is at the line, your priorities will shift in an instant. Just like having a baby or a near-death experience will change your priorities.
If you had a gun pointed to your head, I bet you would find the motivation to change your priorities. After surviving a near-death experience, reevaluating your priorities, your life goals, and how you are living your daily life, will come natural to you.

Somehow, we find the motivation when the circumstances ask for it. This is why we always do the most work when the project’s deadline is coming up. We work through the task because we now feel a sense of accountability to deliver excellence. However, there are little consequence to these deadlines. These project deadlines are made up in our own head. What is not made up is the ultimate deadline.
The ultimate deadline is the end of life itself. No one can predict when this deadline is coming. It can be far away or just around the corner. It can be years. It can be months. It can be days. Once time is up there is no second chance. There is no going back.
Not to say that you should put yourself in actual danger. Instead, a good practice could be go to a nursery home and interview the elder people.
How has their life shifted priorities? Do they have regrets?
Do whatever works for you to find the motivation to live your life.
Cherish life
We shouldn’t live in the future and worry by fearing death.
We shouldn’t dwell in the past by looking back with regrets and grudges.
Instead, we should cherish life by being present and live in the now.
Life is a unique gift that has been given to us. We should never take it for granted.

Live a little more. Love a little more. Don’t just dream. Live your dreams. Seize the day. Carpe diem. Cherish life. Live each day like it was your last. Spread love and positive energy. Make a positive impact in the world. Be grateful for what you have. Do anything you can so that when the moment comes that you fade away you know that you gave your everything and you can die at peace with little regrets or grudges.

