Can we live them as a celebration ?
"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." ~ John Burroughs
All of us, those who are alive, have to die some day. That is the only universal truth that no one can change. No one can challenge it either.
Those of us who are young, consider death as a remote abstract thing. It will never touch us, we think. Obviously, there can not be an assumption more wrong but then, that is youth. It is the fountain of energy, positive outlook and hilarity.
Youth flow through life, flitting from moment to moment - their feet hardly touching the ground. However, the harsh reality of life slowly keeps rubbing against them and saps their life force - little by little.
Gallant but spent, the youth, or the has-been youth, arrive at the stage in life when, finally, it dawns upon them that death may indeed be at their doorstep some day. A person with this realization turns into a mature but sad shadow of the vigorous youth that the person once was.
Though not too long in the tooth, I am no young spring chicken either. Neither are many of us here on Steemit. It is, therefore natural for us to have thoughts about how our last days are going to be.
Am I afraid of death? No I am not. Honestly, when death takes me, I will be gone - so I have nothing to worry about myself as such. However, it is the last stages of journey towards that final step that scare me. I get clawing questions in my mind such as:
- Will I be healthy and independent to a fair degree?
- Will my family be well provided for when I am gone?
- Will I remain the cheerful and positive me till the end or turn into a cantankerous old man that is a burden on myself and others emotinally?
- Will I be satisfied that I have, indeed, lived my life?
I had no answers till I looked at this autumn leaf on a tree and captured it with my Nikon P900 camera.
Go ahead - ask. What does a leaf have to do with how we can spend our last days? Patience my dear friends. I hope you have not already turned into a cantankerous old bastard (or bitch). If so, jump right ahead to the 'Living last days of life as a celebration' section...
I look at an autumn leaf, as it nears it's last few days of life and realize that the leaf knows it is going to get separated and die on some gust of wind, very very soon. The leaf does not just let go, turn brown and die. It turns into glorious hues of red, orange, and finally yellow. It turns itself into a bright beacon that spreads color in a bleak world. It lives it's last days in a glory that not only makes those days good for the leaf but also for the world around it.
That is how I want to go to... With my life as a celebration. Having lived it full and imparting a glow to other's lives. I want to make a difference and touch lives even as my own life slowly ebbs away....
That's right. I want to feel my celebration for my own sake. I am not bothered about being remembered or anything. I do not care a tiny rat's a$$ about my reputation or my legacy. It will be my own celebration, with those of us along me who fill my heart with warmth and happiness.
I am sure you all have similar feelings. A few variations on the theme perhaps - after all every individual is an 'individual'. However, I am sure that most of us carry essentially similar feelings on the subject.
How do we celebrate our last days of life though? Well - here are my thoughts...
Living last days of life as a celebration
I believe that here is what I need to do:
Know my health status and adjust lifestyle - As I get longer and longer in the tooth, I must have a regular watch on my health and moderate my activities. I need to enjoy and savor everything - from my morning sip of tea to the smell of raindrops falling on ground. I must, however, not go overboard in anything.
Make a bucket list - I have lots of things that I want to do before I die. Things as complicated as Visiting the seven wonders of the world to simplest ones such as buy a lovely bouquet of flowers for my lovely wife or pick a flower for her from the garden every day. Even little things that give me pleasure like watching my favorite shows like Fraiser, Big Bang Theory and Friends for the Nth time again. Just making a list and thinking about them fills my mind with happiness.
Action the bucket list without making it a 'do or die' task- I would be dying soon anyways, a that point of time - why hasten death by taking on anxiety! I must take it easy and do what I can. Must enjoy the items on the list and not worry about completing the whole list.
Sort out all property/possessions and make a will - Let my loved ones know what I have arranged and that they are cared for.
Hold hands with my spouse, my best friend and talk a lot - Re-live all those moments when we laughed and cried together in our life. Remember those lovely moments with our children. Remember the first time when our child grasped my finger with a tiny fist....
Apologize if I need to - It helps to have a clear heart as we celebrate our last days. Perhaps a former close friend, sibling or colleague with whom I have had an argument years ago and have not spoken with ever since . Such things do weigh on our minds sometimes don't they? I must go ahead and take the first step, reach out - even if it was not my fault in the first place. A smile from my long lost friends will be a treasure that I can carry with me as I say good-bye.
I must take Deep breaths - Smell all the joy in the world. Filter out the bad odors of jealousy, greed, violence and other such muck that the world is full of. I would not even read the newspaper. What news is really going to make a difference to me when I am about to kick the bucket???
Offer thanks to god or any entity that I believe in as something that made me tick - If religious, it is natural for us to think of God. If not - we think of anything and everything that motivated and supported us during our life. I am undecided yet at this point in my life about my stand on God. Hopefully, I will complete my thinking on the subject by the time I need to. In any case - I must offer thanks.
That's about it. This is MY recipe for my last days. I am not a cook that can offer a ready made recipe that fits all for 'How to live last days as celebration' - nor am I an author of 'Last days for Dummies'. Hommies, we need to figure out what our life is and what our celebration is going to be - on our own!
Good luck and enjoy the ride...
If we do it right, it will be one hell of a slide, ending with our being totally ready to face a blissful, silent and happy death!
In Conclusion:
I hope I can be the Autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift. — Dodinsky
Steemians, please comment freely to share your experiences, knowledge and views about freedom of speech status in your own country.Thanks.
Note: All images except for the wildlife photos and the title image created by me are from pixabay.com. For images not falling in those categories, a source is explicitly mentioned below such images.
