The truth about life is that it has to come to an end someday, and the fear of our own mortality can be overwhelming. When we’re young, we think that we’re going to live forever, but there are certain bumps in the road along our journey that makes us realize that we are in fact mortal.
This could be a brush with death, seeing a relative or loved one pass away, or just merely the passage of time. For almost anyone, death is a scary thing, and this is because there is so much living that we want to do first. In addition, it's a leap into the unknown, and this can most certainly lead to fear.
Some of us may have personal philosophies on what happens to us after we die, whereas others may not. Regardless of how we think about death as individuals, there is significant change associated with it – going from a state of life into whatever there is beyond. As I’m sure you know, change in life can have elements of grief associated with it, no matter whether the change is positive or negative.
The reality of life presents us with a stark choice. We can live out our days in a state of fear of the inevitable, or else we can decide not to worry about that which we have absolutely no control over. The only thing we can control is the present.
Unlike in science fiction, time machines don’t exist, so there’s absolutely nothing we can do to change whatever it is that happened in the past. Similarly, although we can shape our future to a certain degree using the power of our thoughts, there are also many variables that are out of our control, so it clearly isn’t worth worrying about either.
Think of the future in terms of a car journey that went awry. Maybe you had to stop for gas, change a flat tire or ran into a detour. Despite those things changing your arrival time, you still managed to get there in the end, albeit later than you expected. Your future is the car journey, whereas the things that went awry along the way are simply the unexpected curveballs that life can throw at you.
It’s incredibly sad to think that many people spend their entire lives failing to enjoy the present moment – the only thing that they have even a modicum of control over – due to being stuck in the past or worrying too much about what’s yet to come. Keep the present firmly at the forefront of your mind, because you can only make the best of now. Spend this moment in the way that you want to, rather than adding it to your list of regrets (not that you should harbor any in the first place…).
Making the best of the present moment
In a nutshell, you make the best of the present moment by making a point of being in the present moment. A fantastic example of this is your drive to work. Think about how many times that you arrive at your workplace with no conscious memory of the journey that you’ve just completed. This is because you were likely to be thinking about a hundred other things that you needed to finish on a given day.
These incessant attempts at multitasking and thinking ahead are actually hastening people’s deaths – think about how many road accidents occur because a driver was distracted rather than focusing on driving!
Making a point of being in the present, using the aforementioned example, will allow you to notice the scenery, changes to business and houses that you would never have noticed before, and many other little details that would have just passed you by.
In conclusion
Despite the emphasis on living in the present to dissipate fears of our own mortality, there are of course times where it’s okay to look back, or plan ahead. The key is not to get overwhelmed by regrets of the past or worries about the future, as that will lead you back to square one. Keep in mind that we are all mortal beings, but also keep in mind that life is far too short to be controlled by that which we have no control over at all! Last but not least, remember to be thankful for the opportunity you had to live life in the first place...
Images (including cover) by Deposit Photos.
