by Annamaria Geresdi

Even though over 55 million people die each year, it doesn’t seem to get to us when it happens ‘out there’ in the world, until it happens closer to us. Recently I was reminded of that multiple times when I heard about the passing of several people I knew personally.

Thousands of people die every day around the globe. We accept it as ‘normal’ and treat it as ‘just statistics’, until someone close to us passes away. A death of a loved one can be devastating for those left behind. It has been difficult seeing a dear friend go through different stages of grief after her husband had just died, yet I am amazed how she is holding it together with incredible strength.

Losing someone puts our own existence and mortality in perspective.

I am a great believer of celebrating life while we are alive and accepting death as part of the natural order of things, even perhaps as the beginning of a new phase of existence.

Many people fear death – for various reasons. I, for one, actually don’t. From early on I have accepted dying and always thought that as long as I have a happy, fulfilled life, there is no point in wasting time worrying that one day it will end. I should just enjoy every bit of it and when it’s my time to go, it’s my time to go. Granted, I wasn’t your average, ordinary thinker even as a kid!

I feel that being afraid of dying will only hold us back from living. People say life is short. It could be. But if we live it vibrantly, spending every day as if it were our last, life can be extraordinary! Accepting death may bring a sense of inner peace, comfort, and even a new-found drive to live life exuberantly.

Religion and spiritual belief systems give people the gift of hope and faith that there is life after death, that the Soul lives on. Some people believe in Heaven, some in reincarnation, while others believe that the human experience is only a temporary phase, a chapter of the Soul’s evolution, a short pit stop on the long road of ascension.

Those who don’t believe in a higher power or a divine existence, seem to fear death more than those who do, because they believe that “this is it”. If that were true, if there was nothing, no afterworld, no magical place, no transcendental realms and no rebirth after we die, perhaps we all should cherish each day even more so and live our lives to the fullest – with no fears and regrets.

Maybe we can’t escape the inevitable, but we don’t have to obsess about its arrival. If “that’s all there is”, at least we know we have lived life fully and enjoyed it to the very last breath.

Either way, I believe life is precious – even when it’s hard – and I am grateful for every second of it! I choose to embrace life and when death comes knocking, I want to be ready for whatever is on the other side.

WHEN IT’S MY TIME TO GO