IS THERE LIFE BEFORE DEATH?

Category: Repeat 

According to one famous movie, each person loses exactly 21 grams in the time of his or her death. Metaphorically, this is considered to be the weight of our soul. Question here is whether you believe in the existence of an afterlife or you consider only the time you were given in this world. Ancient Egyptians and other cultures considered the afterlife to be at least equally important (if not more) as this life so they did their best to preserve the bodies of their loved ones and equip them with various artifacts they might need later on. Even many modern people are preoccupied with death and thinking what's gonna happen next. Actually, seems many of us worry both about the after-lives and other-lives so much that we simply forget to live our own life.

One of the most complex phobias of today is Thanatophobia - a paralyzing fear of death. Most people are uncomfortable with death and think of it from time to time, but here we talk about the phobia which prevents someone from conducting daily activities. Some of the most common reasons include fear of the unknown, loss of control or dignity, illness or pain. As we all have an expiration date on this world, in my opinion it's better not to bother with an afterlife too much. What counts is quality of your current life and your constant intentions to live it as honorably as possible.  But many of us forget to live in the PRESENT and tend to spend most of their time living either in the past or in the future. It surely doesn't mean you shouldn't plan for the FUTURE. If you still need to deal with the PAST, be sure to learn from it. 

Even if that's a serious topic, it's surely better not to take life so seriously. Since no one gets out alive anyway, it's better to have some fun along the way. And never forget that the choice is always yours. You have the freedom to live the way you like, not the way others expect you to. As long as it makes you happy and it doesn't harm anybody else, feel free to define and create the "time of your life". The fact is also that most of us are commonly instructed to stay within the "quadrant" and never question a true meaning behind the things outside of it. Bird that was raised in a cage forget to fly away when the door is left open, but that's not what the birds are made for. In my opinion, it should be other way around. Therefore, dare to draw outside the lines. Ask questions. Imagine dragons. Train your demons. Focus on adding additional dimensions to your life - turn your quadrant into a cube. Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life.     

The challenge usually arises when we need to decide to sacrifice parts of our freedom and allow others to make the choices for us in order to achieve some of our goals. It's tricky since sometimes same things could be seen both as "freedom enhancers" and "freedom dampers", depending on your perspective or timing. In a variety of our professional and personal relations we're required to step back from our own agenda in order to achieve mutually beneficial results. What's important there is to be ready to compromise, not to cross the line and retain your integrity. 

In case you live a fulfilled and honorable life it actually doesn't even matter if you believe the afterlife exists or not. If you live it right, once should be enough. Also, think about those who will outlive you and which word will first come to their mind when they think of you. On the other hand, if somebody out there sees and measures it all, you should be rewarded and live happily ever after. Or you could be reincarnated in form of your favorite animal - we simply can't be sure one way or another. Since several people who survived near death experience witness their whole life flying in front of their eyes in a form of chronological frames at the very last moment, better be sure your film will be well directed and worth watching!