Nobody is going to provide a definitive answer to the “Big Questions” of life.

Anyone who tells you that “all you have to do is believe this, or stand here, or say this… or bow three times into the sun…” is full of crap, IMHO.

This is not unfortunate or dismal; it is simply the way it is. It is also my opinion that, with a few very rare exceptions, no person alive (or dead) knows exactly what was going to happen to them before they died. For those anomalies who may have known, I don’t think they cared to know exactly what was going to transpire.

Why? Because they trusted what is, and that regardless of what happened, they would be exactly where they were supposed to be.

The Bookends of Safety

Before I came to life, I was wherever I was. Safe. When I was born, I came to life with ease. Unconflicted. Life simply came to meet me when I arrived.

Think with me…your fear of the end can be the catalyst to assist you to reach deeper into your own internal wellspring of inspiration. Use it to look deeper at life. It begins by asking yourself what, exactly, it is that you believe to be true for you. What gives you a sense of peace?

If you believe in reincarnation, then it is logical to believe that each successive life provides you with further information, taking you steps up the ladder towards enlightenment. Or you may believe this life is all there is. Or you may not know what you believe. This is perfectly okay! This is your starting point. Don’t let fear take away your curiosity to explore and discover your inner world.

The logic is simple:

• Before I arrived here, I was safe.

• I arrived here safely.
• I will leave here just as safely.

When I depart this life, there is no reason true enough to assume otherwise.

The Interim: This Magnificent Bag of Bones

It is during the “interim”—this space between arriving and departing—that the atoms formed by my birth will dissipate, scattered once again on the soft four winds. A space once filled opens up as I step beyond this veil of life-worn skin.

Life comes with pleasure and pain. This is where I feel and surmise and proselytize. This is where my existence takes on the flavors of my meaning, contracted and compacted into days and months and years. This is where I struggle with the conditions particular to “this magnificent bag of bones tied together with some string.” In my humanity, I often struggle to declare that All is Well.

But whether we have one life or many, THIS is the one that counts, and it counts NOW.

Quality of Life vs. Quality of Death

It is not about the inevitability of your passing as much as it is about the inevitability of your living today to the best of your ability. It is about quality of life, right? Not quality of death—something that seems like we have little or no control over.

My suggestion is to let that shit go and concentrate on what gets you fired up and stoked to LIVE! Blast your circle of influence with your joy of living, not your fear of Dying. Those who fear death to a debilitating level never truly experience what it means to truly live. That is the real tragedy.

The Release

Dying seems easy. Everyone does it. I will slip into it with ease… release my grip on life with less concern than my last breath. Where I will be after I depart this life will be wherever I am. Untethered, with no story attached to it. No story to live up to or live down. All is well.

You may miss the one that I once was, but I won’t hold you to it. Where has holding onto something ever brought me anything but burden?

This is where we often get confused: Caring and missing are not contingent on the depth and duration of your mourning.

In your memories, remember me well. Remember me content. Remember when all was well. When we were unconcerned with death and well concerned with life—but let neither of these consume us. We understood the way of all things is, eventually, to be stripped of all things… stripped of all the things that tether us to earth.

This being will simply be estranged from you, but never the part that makes its home in the beauty of your heart. Remember that when all is said and done, you and I left unconcerned.

Me before you, that’s all.

Originally Published on https://akasha111blog.wordpress.com/

Paula Tozer Author

Paula D. Tozer is the author of three books - Saving Your Own Life: Learning to Live Like You Are Dying; An Elegant Mind's Handbook, and Enchanting Treve, a Novel. She is also an actor, singer/songwriter, Creativity Coach, competitive speaker, and leader with Toastmasters, as well as an avid cyclist, hiker, gym rat, and critter lover. The vast majority of her accomplishments have been achieved after the age of 50, demonstrating that It is never too late to be what you truly could have been...

Paula believes that living fiercely at any age is the way to optimize our time on this side of the grass. She has taken up the mission to inspire and motivate her contemporaries with what she has found that has allowed her to age with elegance, vitality, and most of all, good humor!