Confronting the Reality of Death

My wife Carol and I are at an age when we find ourselves attending many more funerals than weddings. It seems that every time we read the obituaries we are off to the funeral home. It certainly makes us confront our own mortality.

Every time I visited my 90 year old mother she talked in terms of who is gone, who is about to go, and who should be gone but is still hanging on. She used to tell us that you don't really confront aging until you experience the deaths of close friends and family members. We have been told many times that death is a part of life, but are we really prepared to accept it?

I believe that one can never begin to live fully until one comes to terms with the inevitability of one's own death. But it is much easier said than done. The task that confronts us is how to remain positive, productive, peaceful and joyful in the face of the inevitable.

I can't recall the author but this is one quote that inspires me as I struggle to live life to the max and leave the thought of death in the hands of the One who created me. He said, "Everyone dies; so few really live." That's where I want to put my attention and energy, on living fully in love and hope.

This is my strategy.
I say to myself,

I AM GOING TO DIE.
WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.
WHEN? NO ONE KNOWS.
IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE THIS? NO."
SO I DON'T WASTE TIME WORRYING ABOUT SOMETHING OVER WHICH I HAVE NO CONTROL.

When anxiety and fear come, as they often do, I dismiss them and replace them with some of the following hope-filled thoughts. They help me a lot and I hope they do the same for you.

* "I want to tell you I have absolutely no doubt now that there is a transformation of consciousness at the point of death and we go on." Dr.Raymond Moody

* "The Blazing evidence of immortality is our dissatisfaction with any other solution."
Emerson

* "Until we love completely all things can hurt us." Thomas Merton

* "There is no path so dark nor road so steep nor hill so slippery that other people have not been there before me." M. Bedrosian

* "The tide of eternity sweeps in and life and death are two halves of the one whole. One day we shall understand the mystery, but not yet. Now we journey with faith, remembering that God said, "Let there be light." Gladys Taber

*"She has out-soared the shadow of our night." Shelly
*"Grief is the price we pay for having loved deeply. A difficult price to be sure, but one we willingly pay for the joy of loving." MM

"We aren't here for a long time so let's make sure we're here for a good time."
Live long in joy and hope.

This is an excerpt from Mike's popular book, Embracing the Mystery" (Living the Life you Want) designed to help you make the rest of your life the best of your life.
http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?embracing
"How to Age without Getting Old
http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?aging

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