When I was twelve years old, I would wake up screaming at night after failing to wrap my head around the notion of mortality. I simply could not process the thought of being dead, the thought of not thinking anymore. As I got older, I discovered three different methods for overcoming fear of death:
- Ignorance. Forget inevitability and have a blast instead. Party the night away.
- Devaluation. See less value in what you have to offer and therefore see less value in your life.
- Faith. Accept the balancing and cyclical dynamics of the universe. Trust that life will level out naturally.
I’ve tried all three. Frankly, method two can go to hell. We all have value; we just need to discover it. And I am not a fan of ignorance, so the first method does not work for me either. If you can live life by the seat of your pants and skip past rational thought, by all means have loads of fun. I just ask too many questions to sit back and play along with you.
It takes bravery to invest in the natural processes of the universe and go with the flow. It is damn near impossible to trust things we cannot explain. But those forces are out there and all around us, whether you want them to be or not. You can either fight them or embrace them.
Live. Love. Laugh. Trust. Share. Learn. Go with the flow.
Craig Ormiston 