« Knowing the Cosmos | Main | The Hipster »

Thursday, 11 October 2012

Worried to Death

By Joanne Zimmermann

One of our most feared and important occurrences really does not require anything from us. Yet we really obsess about it the older we get.

I am talking about dying. It is really probably pretty easy, and happens whenever it happens. It is quite hard to picture ourselves not being “here” anymore, and the world going on without us. It is hard to donate body parts perhaps not sure if we will be really dead when they are removed. And yet it is one of the most generous things we can do.

Some of us look forward to leaving this life having worn ourselves out battling diseases, disappointment, whatever life has thrown at us. Some even take steps to end it all.

Many of the things I worry about at nearly four score I now realize I won’t even be here to be involved. What a freeing idea that is.

So it is kind of cool just tossing worries I had when younger into oblivion. This leaves a lot more time for something so I have decided to use it for fun. My associate worries about what it will be like after death. He said, “How can the world go on without me?”

I think all of us feel that we are the center of the world, at least to ourselves. So the world will notice our absence and be much the worse for our passing! We all imagine the sobbing and shock among our family and friends. Or, even worse, we fear they may be happy to see us go.

We will never know and we have really worn the subject to death. A pun, ha, but all of this stuff should go in the oblivion basket too.

We are “dying to meet you, dying to hear from you and dying of loneliness and embarrassment.” Substitute living for dying, then you can peacefully depart absolutely stuffed with the best you could find.

So if we regard dying as like falling off a log and being born which we did not control either, then life in between should be a celebration, a tribute to the cosmos that we even made it through the minefields of a gazillion possible sperm and egg combos.

What were the chances that here you are? Precious minutes, hours and years are being spent by us for pursuits from mundane to exciting. That is why they say to call it “the present.”

Worry not, waste not and go for the thrills that are all around us. Scoop up the big and little treasures that are yours for the discovering.

A life well-lived is to die for.

---

[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Please read instructions for submitting.]

Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post

The comments to this entry are closed.