Do It Now

Learning to face death

In today’s world of instant communication we can reach out to anyone anywhere with the touch of a button. We get impatient if a phone is unreachable or if we don’t get a reply to our sms instantly. We want to update our ‘status’ on Facebook regularly so that our ‘friends’ know what we are doing every moment. We expect immediate and continuous communication from those we love or care for.
One breakdown of communication, death, is what it was even a thousand years ago – irreversible. What happens when your phone or Internet just cannot reach your beloved, who has passed on beyond this world?
We have all heard the proverb “nothing is certain except death.” Even this proverb we don’t remind ourselves too often – because death is one topic that we would rather not talk about. There are people who almost believe that talking about death hastens its arrival! Knowing that it is 100% guaranteed, is it not better to prepare oneself both mentally and physically for our own death and for the death of a loved one?
Having seen innumerable people breaking down miserably on bereavement, having observed families being broken apart on the death of a patriarch who did not leave a Will, I am a strong believer that Facing Death should be taken up as a vital life skill which should be taught to children, adults and the elderly. If it cannot be done in an organized way, we can certainly do it individually over a period of time.