To Embrace Life to Its Fullest Is to Embrace Death

by | Jul 21, 2023 | About Life, Death, life, Life Journey | 0 comments

Photo by ROCCO STOPPOLONI on Unsplash

How do people freely live if they continue to be servants of death? Only when people embrace death do they begin to challenge and enjoy life’s limits.

“Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression
of the state of being human.”
– Viktor Frankl

According to the psychiatrist and holocaust survivor, life isn’t centered on people’s pursuit of pleasure but rather on their search for meaning. Although many might believe that happiness is the end all be all of life, Viktor believes in digging deeper in search of a profound purpose.

In addition, he stated how this meaning would only be revealed in proximity to death. Although it sounds desolate, it makes sense. After all, what should correlate with this proximity is the experience. The more years people have lived, the more experiences they’ve encountered and wisdom gathered.

Does this mean life will reveal its meaning only if people embrace death?

This ideology aligns with the thought Russell Marlett conveys in his book. In a portion of the short commentary book by Russell, the author mentions life and death, implying that the fear of the latter results in the avoidance of life. As a domino effect, this causes them to reel back, generally avoiding the opportunity of discovering life’s meaning.

Looking at it from a wider lens, a fear of death depicts a somber and dull life. It encloses people in uncomfortable comfort zones where they can’t relish every opportunity life gives. When people fear death, they aren’t living life to the fullest, which should be where the prize is.

But why don’t people embrace death?

Dying Is Normal, but Why Do People Fear It?

What is it with people and their fear of mortality?

It’s as if they’ve been born living the contrary and have only been given the memorandum of impermanence. However, demise is and has always been inevitable, and having this brevity hovering above everyone’s minds can be frightening. This makes people want to stay in the confines of their homes, safely tucked away from possible risks and causes of death. Knowing that, at some point, everything will cease to exist can be very limiting. But people forget that when they don’t embrace death, it can be as, if not more, limiting.

How many activities have people skipped doing in fear of hurting themselves?

When some have felt freedom, doubling the harness tied around their waists as the illusion of flight, how many have chosen not to jump and only stare in awe at the other’s experience? More commonly than not, people step back from doing what they’re interested in for fear of getting hurt. This seems like a decent trade-off, exchanging fun for safety, but it stops people from living life to the fullest.

Fearing death is normal. After all, what comes with death is pain, and nobody wants to endure and undergo so much suffering. However, is this fear worth missing, possibly the best day of life? If it helps, people only die once. So, what difference does it make if people embrace death and, perhaps, die knowing they’ve lived a vibrant life?

How Can People Embrace Death?

Before expounding, it’s the perfect time to remind you that embracing death doesn’t mean being reckless and putting oneself at constant risk. There’s a difference between embracing death and simply seeking it out. So, how can people genuinely embrace life without being careless and stupid?

Living life to the fullest doesn’t always mean seeking the most exciting and thrilling adventures. Often, more mundane activities define happiness and life better than the contrary. Living a vibrant life and embracing death means living without regret and not second-guessing any opportunities. When a choice is asked, do people pick what they genuinely want, or do they base their decision on which is the safest?

Sometimes, living life to the fullest is going with one’s impulsive or the first decisions. Those are what the heart truly seeks, not simply the comfort people seek.

Coming to terms with the fact that death is inevitable can be powerful. This allows people to focus on the present because it’s what they can control and what they currently have. They might still welcome thoughts of death. But they would instead focus their attention on what they have, taking control of their fate.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What Authors Say About ReadersMagnet

Archives

Google Review

Skip to content