The time must come when every man faces his mortality.
It may be a little premature, but I have come to terms with my own. For years now, I have contemplated what death means to me - me as an individual and as a human being. Even now, I don’t have the answer, and I doubt I ever will, not till I pass through the veil to the great beyond… and perhaps not even then.
What I have observed though, is that oftentimes, we complain of a lack of time to do the things we would like to do, and even more so, the things we have to. We then wish that we had more time, time enough to accomplish anything, and everything possible on this earth. It’s an experience we all share, I am sure.
But what we don’t realise is that when we do this, it demeans, trivialises the purpose of our existence. For we are human beings, and by definition, that means we are mortal, shortlived, and cursed with a fleeting existence in this world. We have but a finite period of time to live out our lives, to carry out our duties, to realise our dreams. And for all the limitations imposed upon us as a result, it is our mortality that ultimately gives meaning, and purpose, to the things we do.
Time, such a limited resource - truly the only completely unrenewable resource available to us. Simultaneously, the one resource we cannot do without. Consequently, the more time we put into something, the more it means to us… Much like how a birthday present made by hand over the course of months will always be dearer than a birthday present which has infinitely more monetary value, but was bought in a second. It is the time we put into our effort, that infuses it with this quality, this pricelessness. Take our mortality away from us, and we will no longer feel like anything is quite so special ever again.
All things must come to an end. Even we. So what is important then, is to do what we can, where we can, when we can, while we still can. Death, is an inevitability, but Life? Life is a choice, and we must all choose to embrace it. And seeing as how we’re all united in our lack of time, why can’t we embrace each other too?
