A poignant scribble from Jack’s notebook (as penned over coffee in a quiet café):

In the presence of death, all lesser fears recede. As a constant companion, the reaper is not unlike a jealous angel, warding off demons with a casual glance.

As Thoreau so wisely urged: Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Rather than worry and fret over a great many small things, in other words, it is perhaps better to “simplify” and worry about just one big thing. And then, beyond that, if the one big thing (death) becomes a comfortably accepted reality — and thus no longer a source of anxiety — one need not truly “worry” about anything at all.

There are at least two potential motives for focusing on death (or otherwise entertaining a casual preoccupation with death). One of these motives is bitter, egotistical and life-denying; the other is pragmatic, joyous and life-affirming.

The life-denying motive typically contains an embedded “woe is me” component… a sense that life is not fair and the universe sucks.

The joyous motive, in contrast, is associated with loving life… in Jack’s case, a love of life that runs so deep it hurts. From this perspective, the recognition of loss – you are going to lose your life, you cannot hold onto it — becomes an exhortation to fully and truly live while one can. (William Wallace: “Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”)

Whether the life-affirming pragmatic result of accepting death means greater motivation to kick ass, a deeper desire to kick back, or a healthy combination of both, the point is to savor the flavor while we’re here.

Steve Jobs expressed this concept masterfully in his Stanford University 2005 commencement speech:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Whether the shoulder tap comes at age 33 or age 103, life is too short for bullshit. Once past the fright, amiable companion death is a friendly reminder of that.

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