We’re Only Here to Die
My anxious thoughts about death
One day when I had some free time, I sat in the hut near the mining site where I work. At that moment, I started thinking about how quickly life passes by.
Fifteen years ago, when I was a kid, my dad began working at a mining company. It feels like it was just yesterday, but now he’s almost retiring. And here I am at 24 years old, just starting my career in a similar industry.
That reflection on the past made me emotional. It’s not that I’m happy about finally becoming a man, but rather sad. I feel like I’m entering the final phase of life, and time will pass even faster now.
Since my dad started working, his life has become very routine. He goes to work, comes home tired, and does it all over again the next day. Nothing new happens anymore; every day feels just the same. And now, I’m starting to feel the same way.
I rarely remember or check dates anymore. Days pass by without me noticing, slipping away like moments I can’t hold onto. I wonder if this is all there is to the rest of my life, until it ends.
As the days pass, I will grow older. I might feel like my youth was just yesterday, but that’s how it goes. I won’t know how much time I have left until I eventually die.
I know I’m young to be thinking about this, but people in my country typically live until they’re about 60 to 70 years old. That means I’m almost at the halfway point of life. And getting to the second half definitely won’t feel as long as the first. That’s also if I have a long life.
Death scares me because it means I will leave everything behind. No matter how much I love my family or how ambitious I am in pursuing my dreams, death doesn’t care. When it comes, it will take everything from me.
Sometimes I wonder why we have to live. Why do we get hope and love? Eventually, we’re here just to die, and everything we have will become meaningless.
Life is so cruel, isn’t it?
The Acceptance of Death
Life asked Death “Death, why do people love me but hate you?”
Death responded “Because you are a beautiful lie and I am an ugly truth.”
-Anonymous
I read this quote a long time ago, but it didn’t affect me deeply until I realized how short life is.
I often wonder what a man thinks at the end of his life. Many don’t anticipate death, so they might think about tomorrow. But then, death comes, and everything is over.
When I’m about to board a plane, I often think, “What if it crashes and I die? How would I feel knowing the plane is failing and I’m about to die?” I’d probably just cry over my loved ones. I love them so much, but there would be nothing I could do.
That’s the ugly truth of death, but we have to accept it. As Marcus Aurelius says in “Meditations,” death is a natural part of life. Just as birth is the beginning, death is the end. We are all born, and we will all die.
According to the basic idea of Stoicism, death is something beyond our control. There’s nothing we can do about it, so it’s better to focus on what we can control in life.
Marcus Aurelius once said, “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.”
When we think about the past, we can’t bring anything back. Whether those days were good or bad, they are gone. So, it’s fair to say that our younger self died with those past moments.
Now that the present is all that’s left, we need to focus on what’s important in our lives. That means living genuinely according to our true values and beliefs, and not conforming to social expectations.
But remember, we also need to find balance in everything we do and not go to extremes.
“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.”
-Marcus Aurelius
What’s The Point of Life?
If we’re going to die, why should we chase dreams? Why build a family or work? Doesn’t it all seem meaningless in the end?
I often hear about young people who unexpectedly die, even though they seemed perfectly healthy.
A few days ago, I also saw on social media that a fitness influencer has a rare disease causing his muscles to shrink. He lost all his hard work unexpectedly.
These things made me think about whether the concept of “you only live once” is really true. I mean, why don’t we just have fun while we’re alive?
Maybe we can eat whatever tastes good, even if it’s not healthy. Maybe we can drink a lot, do drugs, have as much sex as we want, until we eventually die. Because in the end, we all die anyway, right?
But that’s not entirely true. As I think about it now, life isn’t just about having fun; it’s also about surviving.
Life might seem better if we party hard in our youth — drink, do drugs, and then die young. But what if we live a long life? We might suffer poor health in old age.
What if we were also lazy in our youth? And then, as we live longer, we have to endure poverty until we die. Wouldn’t life be unpleasant?
As we age, our priorities shift. When we’re young, we seek instant pleasures, but as adults, we focus more on our health and financial stability.
So we don’t work hard and live healthy to avoid enjoying life. We do it to survive because the future will be harder.
Life is cruel; we can die at any time. But that doesn’t mean we have to give up. We have to survive.
Even though we know we could die, let’s do our best in life. It’s better to try and die like a warrior than like a loser.
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