Live Your Life Facing Your Death
Michael Singer says, “Learn to live as though you are facing death at all times and you’ll become bolder and more open.” (Singer 2007) Most of us will not have the luxury of knowing when we will take our last breath. If we live life fully, we will not have regrets when we do die. We will have chosen to not live in fear but rather to live out our desires by living life fully, by being present in the moment. That would mean we would be paying attention to the landscape we were having the privilege of feasting our eyes upon, or we would be listening attentively to the child that was telling us about the bug that had gotten away, or we would be aware of the person at the coffee shop that seemed to be struggling a bit. Our thoughts would be directed in the moment, not in the future or the past, but in the here and now.
What stops us from doing this? Often it is our worry and fear about doing things right. So we don’t live in the moment. We live in the worry and fear trying to control what is happening making sure that everything goes right. We live in the illusion that we have some control over life and that if we focus on something enough, through our worry and fear, we will really make it happen the way it needs to happen. But ultimately, we don’t have control over what happens through our worrying. And the only thing we accomplish in the practice of worrying or fear is to lose our moment, which is to lose our ability to live right here and now. We lose our life. And life is not something we want to lose. We want to live it fully. Death is our reminder to live life fully. Live life as if today is your last day to live. With this we live life fully and death is our teacher, reminding us how to live – fully and present in each and every moment. This moment is all we really have anyway. Sink into living your life fully present.
Works Cited
Tags: controlling life, fear and worry, Live facing death, live in the moment, Mindfulness
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janie Pfeifer Watson
Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker
Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner- Janie Pfeifer Watson, LICSW, is the founder and director of Wholeness Healing Center, a mental health practice in Grand Island, Nebraska with remote sites in Broken Bow and Kearney. Her expertise encompasses a broad range of areas, including depression, anxiety, attachment and bonding, coaching, couples work, mindfulness, trauma, and grief. She views therapy as an opportunity to learn more about yourself as you step more into being your authentic self. From her perspective this is part of the spiritual journey; on this journey, she serves as a mirror for her clients as they get to know themselves—and, ultimately, to love themselves.
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