Many people shy away from approaching topics about death, believing that if they talk about the subject, they will somehow attract this situation into their lives. Expressions such as: “it’s bad luck” or “God forbid” are verbalized, natural human reactions, it is understandable and legitimate.
When we accept talking about death, we pay attention to our life. Death is the main door that gives direct access to life. All other subjects are accessed by much smaller and less valuable things, and in this context I mention: the frantic race for success, money, material goods, among others, and in this case, we enter life through the doors that lead directly to the “area of service”.
The main entrance is to look at death naturally, to break once and for all the taboo of not touching this subject, because when we look at the reality of death, we understand that life has a lot of value and at this moment we begin to have quality, lucidity about each of our days.
It is a great evolution when we wake up and have the lucidity to think that this could be the last day of our lives; naturally, without despair or imbalance, but in a mature and true way.
When we talk about life, we talk about the intensity of the human experience and this comes from our fears, failures and challenges. When we are exposed to this, we do not waste our time, since we are already behind schedule and cannot waste time. Most people understand that life has value only when they receive a diagnosis of an incurable disease and in this scenario, they start to recalculate all their routes; decides to live better, value the family, not prioritize work so much, starts to have healthier habits, etc.
What I mean is that we don’t need to receive a terminal diagnosis to know that our lives are threatened. Human nature is mortal, it’s not out of logic, death is the only certainty we have in life.
When we look at our death, we begin to have a life that is much more worth living and, from this perspective, I understand that death is a bridge to a life that makes more sense. We stop postponing the human experience that we should value so much, which is time, because one hour time runs out, we just don’t know when that will happen. Without wanting to generalize, many people dedicate themselves to the true principles and values of life only when they realize that time is running out.
This reflection gives us a great chance to change our habits, reflecting on our death, this will give us understanding and lead us to live a life that is really worth living!
*. Article adapted by Stael Veiga inspired by the book: “Death is a day worth living” – Ana Cláudia Quintana Arantes
