Having a wealth of experience when it comes to death, I have learned quite a bit about living. I know there is a bigger picture to all of this. A picture that we as simple human beings are not meant to fully understand here in the physical world. I’m not necessarily talking about God, but this bigger picture could include some form of that. All I know is that there HAS to be more to this than what our simple “humanness” is capable of comprehending.
After a lot of personal growth and self-discovery, I have come to realize that life is about maintaining our love and peace with those we still have in our lives. Sounds too hippie dippy for you? Let me tell you how I got here…
Having been raised in an intense, ultra-religious church that some say had cult like tendencies, religion is just not for me. Religion has only hurt parts of my life than it has helped. That’s not saying I didn’t take away some incredible friendships and life principles from growing up that way. I absolutely did, and those relationships and morals are some of the things I hold closest to my heart. It’s just that religion itself, is just not for me. I believe , in a way it was created to bring peace of mind in humanity for what happens in the afterlife. (Not trying to offend anyone who still practices a religion, I have absolutely nothing against it. If it works for you, I am so grateful it does. My new found beliefs are just the result of my religious trauma.)
It’s been over 12 years since I left the church. In that time, it has been an uphill battle to map out what it is that I believe in. I have had to deprogram my mind from believing that if you die and aren’t baptized in this church you will burn in hell for all eternity. Yikes right!? Because of that, I had an unhealthy fear of death as a child. To be fair, I think everyone fears death to an extent because it’s the ultimate UNKOWN. So of course, there is a level of fear in it. However, in the 12+ years I have been free to have a mind of my own I have finally come to a place that I believe that ‘anything is possible’! Cliché? Maybe. However, it’s the absolute, simple truth of life. We as humans are so limited, who am I to say things aren’t possible? Who am I to say there IS or ISN’T a God? Who am I to say there isn’t another version of myself somewhere in another galaxy? Sure! Why not? Who the heck am I!? I’m just a simple earthling after all.
Now, with this new-found perspective on death and life and that it is so much larger than we know, I also believe that LOVE is more important than we are aware. Yes, of course love in any form is essential for quality of life, but I think its so easy for us to take it for granted. The major losses of my life have been of course my beloved husband, my babies, my father and my in laws. You could say I see how important it is to love those I still have in my life, and also probably why I tend to be so forgiving, not that it always comes easy to me. Our time here is brutally temporary, and wasting that time is criminal. Regardless of what you personally believe in, everyone can believe in love.
With all that said and all the loss I have suffered through, I have finally arrived to a peaceful state of mind when it comes to death. I have to believe we are all eternally connected, even in death. After all, the first law of Thermodynamics is that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. And I believe love is an energy form indeed! So, just because someone isn’t here physically, doesn’t mean their love for us dies right along with them.
If we all could just use our time to love each other and be grateful for those that remain, life would simply be easier. Maybe it’s the “hippie” mentality I have, but I truly believe in the power of love. You and you alone can choose to love, even when it can feel hard to.
Experiencing the kind of loss that changed the entire course of my life in an instant, I am painfully aware that the time we are blessed to have with one another is preciously finite. I honestly wish I could beat this into the brains of some, because I constantly see people I know and love wasting it. Which absolutely breaks my heart. We only get so much time to love each other, something that easily overlooked.
My advice to EVERYONE, live your life in love. It really is that simple. Death comes quick and I don’t want to waste any time.
Where Stevie Writes 