Let's Start At The End Shall We?

I want to start at the end, as opposed to the start, as it is in the end that we truly realize how we started. I understand you may be staring with an incredulous look around about now, but hear me out.

Ever wanted to know when, or even better, how you are going to die? I believe that when we think of this question we first say “yes” so as to maybe somehow cheat death and make sure it never happens.

But think of other things that can kill you, like a Bus, a chicken bone, a heart attack when you find channel 7 has bought Big Brother and is coming back in 2010…. How do you avoid these.. ?

Maybe then your answer will be “I only want to know if I die old and happy and peacefully.” But wait, what if you then are told “in that case we wont say anything”.

Then what?...

You are left with the disposition of wondering “OH Crap!!! Does that mean I die young and unhappy, or old and painfully?... or any other variation of the 3?"

I propose this….. Worry of death brings on appreciation of Life, ergo…. Death means Life.

In life we wonder how…. we wonder when….. we even wonder how long it will take. Will it be the 3.45 express from Lota? Will it be another slow rendition of Unchained melody remix by DJ Bog Pants? Or will it be a slow painful death from cancer either self inflicted or genetic?

Either way if you concern yourself with it too much you will inevitably cause an Ulcer, and therefor, in a catch 22 situation, may in fact be the cause of issues that would lead to something fatal. Or you could find out from a crystal ball that you will die from an Ulcer, and in the end, know the end is coming and then worry enough to develop an Ulcer and wham-mo, there's your Conundrum.

And if you don’t want to know either way, and are happy with your life and don’t really care when you go and “hope” you live long and prosper, there is a small chance you will probably be pulled aside and told when and how you are going to die due to an out of the blue terminal illness whether you like it or not.

That is how life throws it’s uncanny stench of shit your way and all you can do is deal with it and appreciate what you have.

But somehow we only appreciate that which we do not have. "Life will be more fulfilling if I have this, or if I am with them". In Buddhism we call this 'Grasping' but it's just a take on the "The grass is never better on the other side" analogy.

And if you have something and are told that you have to give it back or youthat you are no longer going to have it in a week, then you commit to using it as much as you can. Afterwards, usual comments like “Gee, I really wish I appreciated (insert missed item or person here) when (it/he/she) was here)” are quite common.

An experience I once had was I bought an Xbox 360 game from EB Games, knowing full well of their “7 day return policy”. I played it and spent every waking moment committed to the game and racking up all it’s achievements. Then took it back after 7 days swapping it with a different game, and ended up missing it as I poured so much love and attention into it when I had it.

So in death, or the fear of Death, we re kindle life and learn to appreciate things we have that may not be here tomorrow. We start in the fear of there actually being an end. We sometimes need that kick start from either a loss of a loved one or the news of one that is loved that will be lost in order to appreciate them, ourselves and the fragile string that holds each life up that is only cut by fate itself.