Sunday, April 9, 2023

How to live with the awareness of mortality

Arun Kumar 


May I live this day

in such a way

that if the Reaper comes

whispers and says

he will be back morrow

to take it away

I would have no urge

to change the engagements

on my tray.


A thought I get sometimes is that if I became aware that tomorrow was to be my last day, then in today would I drop everything I had planned to do and read "Man's Search for Meaning" instead, or would I be comfortable enough with what I had planned to do in the first place and would not care whether I have read Victor Frankl’s book or not?

However, if I were to regret not reading the book, why would I not go ahead and read it anyway whether I knew I am to die tomorrow or not.

In essence, if I were to live in a way that is in harmony with the awareness of my mortality, knowing or not knowing which day I will die is not relevant. This is so because either way there is nothing I need to change.

On the other hand, if the knowledge of the day I die is going to be pertinent in the context of the way I live, and thereby, urges me to make some tweaks, why would I not live in that way to begin with? 

Because I will never know the day I am going to die - it could be tomorrow, or the day after, or the same date as today the next year - I should always be packed and prepared to leave.


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