What
is the meaning of life is good for starters, closely followed by the
meaning of death. How inextricably we are tied up in trying to put
answers to these questions especially if one is well advanced in the
one, and coming ever closer to the second.
Our concept of life and our passage through it, depends on, can we persuade ourselves that the outcomes along the way were at least meaningful, by which I mean our memories of the people we knew and loved still can make us smile and be happily nostalgic.
Nostalgia is a mental comfort when we remember times and events which gave us real pleasure. Of course the actors in our personal drama have moved on, moved away, become alien to our current situation.
As Frank Sinatra sang how great it would be to turn the clock back and "do it all again".
Perhaps life has been, as most lives are, full of ups and downs but on the whole you hopefully have few regrets. It would also be nice to meet up with the characters in our play to see how they have done in their own drama and perhaps hopefully, they too would show some interest in you ?
The "shuffling off this mortal coil" bit is the most difficult part.
If you are religious you have convinced yourself that there is a heaven and that life has another destination.
If you believe in reincarnation then this too is at least an 'extension' and inherent in it, the consolation or massaging of the frightening "finality" which death brings.
If you believe in the Spirit world then again the destination lays outside our bodies in a contrivance of the mind and it's separation from body. As the body dies the mind somehow escapes and continues to exist.
Of course if you are an Atheist and are convinced that the death of the body is the end of the individual full stop then one has to find a way of coming to terms with this. Perhaps if you die in your sleep whilst still relatively healthy or you die unexpectedly then this is the best way to go. If at the other end of the scale you are in great pain then death comes as a release.
Normally though it's a phase to go through best with other people, people who care for you and can give you support. Sadly most people who have themselves held the hand of their loved one are alone when their time comes.
It's a conundrum which thankfully only reveals its self when one becomes aware of "the time in hand" and how, try as we might, we find it difficult to find better things to do than ruminate.
Our concept of life and our passage through it, depends on, can we persuade ourselves that the outcomes along the way were at least meaningful, by which I mean our memories of the people we knew and loved still can make us smile and be happily nostalgic.
Nostalgia is a mental comfort when we remember times and events which gave us real pleasure. Of course the actors in our personal drama have moved on, moved away, become alien to our current situation.
As Frank Sinatra sang how great it would be to turn the clock back and "do it all again".
Perhaps life has been, as most lives are, full of ups and downs but on the whole you hopefully have few regrets. It would also be nice to meet up with the characters in our play to see how they have done in their own drama and perhaps hopefully, they too would show some interest in you ?
The "shuffling off this mortal coil" bit is the most difficult part.
If you are religious you have convinced yourself that there is a heaven and that life has another destination.
If you believe in reincarnation then this too is at least an 'extension' and inherent in it, the consolation or massaging of the frightening "finality" which death brings.
If you believe in the Spirit world then again the destination lays outside our bodies in a contrivance of the mind and it's separation from body. As the body dies the mind somehow escapes and continues to exist.
Of course if you are an Atheist and are convinced that the death of the body is the end of the individual full stop then one has to find a way of coming to terms with this. Perhaps if you die in your sleep whilst still relatively healthy or you die unexpectedly then this is the best way to go. If at the other end of the scale you are in great pain then death comes as a release.
Normally though it's a phase to go through best with other people, people who care for you and can give you support. Sadly most people who have themselves held the hand of their loved one are alone when their time comes.
It's a conundrum which thankfully only reveals its self when one becomes aware of "the time in hand" and how, try as we might, we find it difficult to find better things to do than ruminate.
No comments:
Post a Comment