The Acknowledgement Of Death
Why You Should Think About Death
Death isn’t exactly a subject which we talk about very often because it’s obviously seen as a depressing and sad thing to address. It often gives us anxiety and discomfort. It’s a topic which could put anyone in a foul mood and is a conversation we avoid. But we can look at death in a way which can improve our outlook on life. I know, it sounds ridiculous but hear me out…
A Different Perception On Death
After reading several books by some of the greatest Stoic philosophers, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, it’s totally changed how I look at this ‘depressing’ subject. The Stoics have a lot to say about death and for good reason. They believed that death isn’t something to fear, hate or avoid. It should be something we accept as inevitable and unavoidable. The Stoics believed it’s something we can embrace, helping us live a more fulfilling and joyous life.
Epictetus says, ‘Death and pain are not frightening, it’s the fear of pain and death we need to fear.’ By acknowledging the inevitability of death, you’re less likely to be scared of it and shun it’s reality. We shouldn’t focus on trying to stop the inevitable, but instead we should turn our attentions towards controlling things which are within our power, like our emotions.
The Stoic way of addressing death isn’t about totally suppressing your emotions, it’s about accepting a situation for what it is. Seneca says ‘It’s better to conquer grief than to deceive it.’ Even though feelings of grief, anger, denial etc aren’t always beneficial, these are completely normal emotions. It’s immensely important to recognise the emotions you feel instead of ignoring and pretending you don’t feel anything. If we learn to understand and recognise our emotions, it’s a step closer to being able to control them.
By acknowledging and contemplating death, we begin to realise that it’s subconsciously holding us back from living a life which is truly meaningful to us. One of my favourite quotes is from Marcus Aurelius where he says ‘It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.’ It’s not death which we should fear, instead we should fear whether we have been truly living at all. What are you putting off? Are you putting off that trip which you’ve always wanted to take? Are you full of ideas but no action? What’s stopping you? You could say it’s the unknown, money, the fear of failure or the fear of judgement which is holding you back. However, when we come to realise that everything could end tomorrow, we can begin to understand that none of these fears and worries will ever matter anyways when our time comes to an end. We should fear not taking action and not doing what truly matters to us. We should fear living a life of regret.
We are born and then we die, it’s up to us to decide what we do with the time given to us whilst we are here.
To Conclude
Death is something which we have no control over. We might be able to delay it through avoiding certain situations and looking after our health, but it will eventually find us. When we start to acknowledge the inevitability of death, only then can we begin to realise that it prevents us from taking much needed ‘risks’. Death will eventually happen, it’s not going anywhere. But we let it hold us back. Accepting death as a part of nature can help set us free, and allow us to embrace each day as a present given to us.
Meditating on the thought that everything could come to an end in an instant, has helped me to live a happier and more joyous life. Hopefully it will help you to do the same.
P.S. Memento mori: Remember that you’ll die.
