Life’s Meaning After Seeing Death
Maybe it was having almost died twice before the age of 17. Perhaps it was the third time that really did it. The time that drunk driver totaled my parked Civic as I was getting in. It’s hard to pin point the exact moment one’s perspective on life changes. You know… that moment we realize it’s time to live rather than exist. We search for clarity but clarity only comes when we have time to evaluate life without life’s clutter of distractions. Why do we worry about work, pleasing friends, missing out on things we don’t really have any interest in? Why do we feel the need to prove ourselves to others instead of ourselves?
“The day we begin to live is the same day we begin to die”
I was gifted the opportunity of finding clarity while lying in a hospital physically unable to get out of bed. When you think you’re dying you start wondering why you didn’t spend more time living. The realization that life is unpredictable hits you hard… it hit me hard. A near death experience shouldn’t give you an excuse to live irresponsibly but that’s what I found myself doing. The determination to have fun and party eats away at a person until they turn lackadaisical after which comes the moment you realize that the day we begin to live is the same day we begin to die. It sounds pessimistic, but once you accept the fact you don’t have full control over life then you can focus on moments. Stop feeling that life is passing you by and focus on the good that is in your life. Death is unexpected and you don’t need a near death experience to reevaluate your life. If you’re not happy, create change! Things aren’t going to come easy, they never do, but if you strive toward achieving your goals you’ll get there with one hell of a story to share with others.
Isn’t that what life is about? Stories… people like to think that just because they’ve been somewhere it makes them interesting. It’s the stories, which you create through experiences that make people want to hear what you have to say next. People used to offer meals and drink in exchange for a good story. This was a long time ago before we lost our way. Somewhere in time a majority of us decided that money was the most important thing in the world, so we stopped bartering and sharing. Money led to power, status, and prestige. Peoples’ craving for a good story slowly dissipated and became replaced by their hunger for money. Eventually we began to believe money meant happiness and the good life and for many of us money became our life’s purpose. But one thing money can’t buy is time and there is no telling how much time each of us has. I refuse to let life pass me by, so I spend my time talking to strangers, inquiring about their story.
