Because of death we appreciate life #12

It has been said there are two absolute certainties in life. One is taxes, and the other is, well………

I will give you a hint; it starts with the letter ‘d’ and ends with the letter ‘h’ and it has a ‘eat’ in the middle. I came across this quote from Apple founder, Steve Jobs, recently which kind of spells it out;

“Death is the destination we all share.”

What a sobering thought, and you the reader may be thinking, ‘why Trevor do I need to know this now?’

That is a great question.

I am thinking because our lives do have an end point, well I suppose, an end of the physical presence on this earth, it kind of compels us to make the most of our lives while we are here.

How many movies have you seen, where it is the deperate need for survival, and not succumbing to death, that gets the hero through? We find our what makes the characters really tick when they are confronted with their own mortality.

As we walk out of the movie theatre, glad to see the hero come through, we may not stop to contemplate how compelling the need to survive is.

If push were to come to shove, and your life was threatened in your home, you may start to consider moving somewhere else. You would endure life upheaval, and strange places, in order to survive and to put off death a little bit longer. This is the reality for millions in our world today.

So how are we making the most of our lives now, as each and every day goes past?

We may not bring out a world changing invention like the iPhone, courtesy of Apple and Steve Jobs, but in our own small part of the world, we all have the opportunity to make a positive difference.

The other interesting thing about the quote, is death being a destination and not an end. What lies at that destination will differ from one person to the next, but we will all end up at this destination at some point.

There is also a continuing destination, of our legacy for those remaining, here on planet earth. Have we left the world in a better place, and are people wanting to keep our legacy going in some form?

That would be the hope of all of us, surely?

In my YouTube channel, I considered this idea through a song by the Alan Parsons Project; Time. In that video I likened our lives to a river, bringing life to all we touch. Rivers go out to sea, and to the sunset, but they also continues to bring life to the valley.  If you would like to watch, please click here

So maybe instead of keeping death at a distance, keep it as a companion, as an inspiration to make our days the best we can.

The commentary in this blog is intended to be general in nature. It is just some observations from one fellow traveller in life to another. If anything in this blog raises issues for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or consult with a trusted medical professional. 

Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash