Monday, August 19, 2013

Cheating Death

We are always looking for ways to cheat death. Is sounds so preposterous, but it is so true. There are these clinics that advertise a way to gain that youthful body or feeling or some cosmetics that will eliminate those eye wrinkles.

What is the point of cosmetic surgery if it is not there to trick us into thinking that death is not inching up on us one day at the time? For me, hitting the age of 50 sent me spiraling down the death path. My morality came into full play. I had been fighting my afib for six years and knew that my life was going to end. I was obsessed with thinking and talking about. Saying things like, “I have 20 years to go (16 today) to reach 70. Everything after that is gravy.

My father died 10 years ago this August and I need to beat his 64 years. We always competed against each other through the years and there were times I bested him and he bested me, but in this matter no one gets the best of it.  We all die. I read about death daily be it a war story or a shooting in the US.

I have not come to terms with the idea that my conscious will just cease to exist. I have seen death up close and personal. Something happens to the body when the heart stops beating whether it is a pet or your parent.

Intellectually, l understand the concept of the universe existing for billions of years, however, it makes no sense in that we are here for a blink of a cosmic eye. The fantasy of heaven or the idea of reincarnation are meaningless in light that we just stop. It seems silly to worry about the inevitable, but I do.

I cheat death by taking a hand full of pills to keep my heart beating properly and my blood pressure in a normal range. I have changed my diet to deal with other potential problems. I don’t want to end up like my father fighting my weight as he did. I fight it and my impulse to eat beyond satiation.

All this writing is based on the idea that time is short. The same goes for traveling. I want to see more of the world. There is no way to see it all. I love seeing all the different pieces beyond my tiny corner of the globe. I have a partner that forces me out of comfort zone and that is a compelling reason to stretch yourself.

Letting fear rule decisions has been a big problem in my life. It has led to choices that may have stifled my dreams. I don’t really know how true that last idea is, but I do know that I have lived a life that for the most part I am proud. Oh, I have some moments that make me cringe to think about but who doesn’t? There are times I have been a real jerk. Who hasn’t? I work really hard to keep those to a minimum today. Not so much in my past.

I what are people going to say when you are gone? I know there are people that will miss me and others that won’t give a shit and others that I have harmed will be glad. Those are the ones that hurt the most. I regret doing harm to people in my past. Some of them still haunt me. They are the demons that drive me to be a better man, father, husband or friend. I need to work on these aspects every day.

Bon voyage. You get to find your own way to the inevitable. I am still searching for mine as well as coming to terms with my own humanity.

No comments:

Post a Comment