Birkarnelzelzit Thiyam
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it,” says Mark Twain. If we really think that home is elsewhere and that this life is a ‘wandering to find home,’ why should we not look forward to the arrival? Are you afraid to die? Or don’t know how death will knock at your door? If you don’t know how to die, don’t worry; Nature will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and adequately. She will do this job perfectly for you; don’t bother your head about it.
Again from the perspective of Steve Jobs, death is just a door that exchanges the old for new. No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Let’s put it this way, if death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character - would you slow down? Or speed up?
And again, people say we die twice, I do believe that. The first death is when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time. So, the best option to live on is not to extend the timing of our last breath but to extend the time of people talking about us. Therefore, the goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.
I know all these won’t really comfort the fear for death but if you do things that you fear most then the death of fear is certain. Yes, death might set you free but it will always leave a headache to some which no one can heal, like love leaves a memory no one can steal.
Like Chuck Palahniuk said, “I don't want to die without any scars.” Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Hell Bloody Ride!” So, guys – safety should be strategic but not an impulsive fear.
To remember, death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. On the other window of Lemony Snicket, it is a curious thing, especially the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and read just the way you thought of things.
I know life and death is nothing but a circular one way door. Or life is both sad and solemn. We are led into a wonderful world, we meet one another here, greet each other - and wander together for a brief moment. Then we lose each other and disappear as suddenly and unreasonably as we arrived.
I don’t know who is reading this article but listen to me please, “fear will ruin your life, go run – run – run.”
The writer is an International Awardee and also a major in International Business Marketing from Algonquin College, Ottawa, Canada. He can be reached at
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