On Death and losing people in life

Death, the sound of the word is enough to send shivers down our spine. Few enlightened souls are not afraid of this reality but for ordinary human beings like me, death is something which is tragic and it is all about tears to me. No one wants to die. And yet, death is the destination that we all share. The question which comes up is that are you afraid of dying or are you afraid to see your loved ones go before you?

It happened. 3^rd October, 2014. My grandfather left this world. I went numb as things went by. As the ashes of his body went up in the sky, my memories came back. I had returned from Mumbai to be on time for his funeral and it is was a painful journey. It was like as if someone had opened chambers of past. Time went by, we all moved on in our respective lives and now it is close to one year to that day but still, I tend to reminisce a lot about my childhood in which he played a crucial part in shaping my knowledge about stock markets.

That brings me to my dilemma about death, Am I afraid of dying or am I afraid to see my loved ones go before me. I shudder to think what will happen to me if I am at the receiving end of losing the people whom I loved dearly all through my life. It would be dreadful. I surely don’t wish to lose them in front of me but then I don’t want to be someone who is insecure about living without people. Because for life moves on irrespective of whether a person has his family by his side or not.

 

But to look at the other side, am I afraid of the reality of the life? Frankly I don’t know. At 23, you don’t think about life and death; you just go through the motions. But, somewhere deep in my heart I understand that life moves on, no matter how hard it seems. We all find a way to hang on to some threads which keep us moving. This is a reality which we (including me) have to embrace in life. Every person who is born is destined to leave as well. Some leave early which is very depressing but we need to take the fight and emerge as winners and not merely survivors.

Many times, I have been told that it is better to forget the people who are no more alive in this world. I still don’t get that. Because you find peace when you let go of your emotions and accept the reality. Forgetting is temporary but acceptance is permanent. It is this acceptance of the reality which has made me stronger during various times of my life. I believe it will work for you as well. Don’t try to forget but accept the reality about any untimely demise of a loved one and move on as soon as possible. Pick up the pieces of your life and do your best.