What Ends A Life?

What a way to start my blog. So, what ends a life?

Death. I've read from Tuesdays With Morrie that when we learn how to die, we will learn how to live. It is when we embrace the concept of death that we can appreciate the simplest things around us. When we know and we truly believe that our life will end soon, then we would take time to see things as they are, not from our point of view, but from the perception of reality. We would learn how to walk slowly, how beautiful the trees lining the sidewalk are, how soft the wind blows, how high the tallest buildings can be, how hot summer days are, and how brutally cold the winter nights feel. But amidst the tortures of these seasons, amidst the chilly wind, amidst anything, we learn that these things are beautiful, and we will learn that these things are gifts for us. Sometimes, just like Christmas, when we open our gifts, the small packages are often left behind, often to be opened last. Only when we have opened the big ones can we find the little ones left unopened under the christmas tree. Just like death. When we have fully appreciated the concept of death, how big it is and how greatly it affects the people around us, can we find pleasures and beauty in the smaller things. Yes, truly, we will know how to live.

Many of us are afraid of death. But it is not really the concept of dying that scares us. It is facing the unknown. Like what Dumbledore said to Harry in the cave (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), "It is only the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more". It is comforting to find that there are some things much terrifying than death. Thus, it makes us easier to face death, to embrace it, and to finally live.