The Comfort of Mortality

It's funny, I feel comforted by the thought that we will all die someday. Everyone is mortal. Everyone is imperfect in some way. Death is one thing that everyone has in common, no matter what. No matter how hard you try, your body will never be flawless, your organs will eventually wear out. You can't buy a new brain or a new soul to replace your first one. It doesn't matter how hard you work to maintain a healthy body and mind, someday it will perish. When we all return to dust, to the material from which we were created, we will be equal. No one will have more possessions. It won't matter who made the most money per hour because all of our needs will be fulfilled. You could own five different Mercedes and have three houses in your name, but when you die you can't drive those cars and you can't walk in that house. The cars won't remember your name, those houses won't tell stories of the time you shared with your friends and family because you didn't spend it. A closet full of suits doesn't mean anything to the boy who inherits them if he didn't know the man who wore them.

So what are we living for if not to acquire the most toys? Living for ourselves will only bring us wealth that we don't share and too many possessions to use. The number associated with our name will reflect the overtime hours not spent with people who should be important to us. If life isn't to be lived for ourselves and our own greedy consumerism, for what do we live?

Relationship is what makes this life worth living. Relationship with people, with the earth. Relationship with the creation that we are a part of and all that will become apart of what we once were. To be in a community of people who care about the same important things that you do. Living with people who have different talents and who together make up a humanity that grows and flourishes building each other up instead of tearing each other down.

Living a life that has a purpose and goal that runs deeper than saving for a bigger watch and more expensive suit. Living for a dream, working towards a world where nationalism doesn't divide people into states that struggle to dominate each other, exploiting the resources of others in order to maximize their own. I live in the hope that those who come after me will enjoy a cleaner world that is more peaceful than mine.

So the next time you're left with a surplus from your paycheck share it with someone who can use it instead of adding another few numbers to a life that affects no one but yourself and is forgotten the day there is no one to make a deposit that won't benefit anything but your greed and desire for power.

We all die, human life cannot be prolonged by riches, so why live for yourself when you can live for the world? Live for something that will leave a legacy you'll be proud of.