Why thinking about death can make life happier?

How do you feel about the idea of ​​death? How often do you think about her and what emotions do you experience? Many of us have pondered these questions lately. The pandemic reminded us that death is always near and that it is an event that we will all face someday. But don't you think that in our society the topic of death is prohibited? We are taught that death is something we should avoid and try to forget. If we begin to contemplate our own mortality, as the traditional wisdom says, we will become anxious and depressed. While our ancestors regularly watched people die and saw dead bodies, we are protected from death by modern medical practice. People usually die in hospitals, not at home, and soon after death, their bodies are taken to morgues or funeral homes.

Realizing your own mortality can be a liberating and awakening experience.

As Steve Taylor, a senior lecturer in psychology at Beckett University of Leeds writes in an article for the British The Conversation, in his research he found that facing death - or even just seriously contemplating death - can have powerful positive effects.

I found that people who survived unhappycases, serious illnesses and other close encounters with death see the world differently. They no longer take life - and the people in their lives - for granted. They have a new ability to live in the present, to appreciate small and simple things in a new way, such as being in nature, gazing at the sky and stars, and spending time with family.

Taylor notes that after a collision withdeath, the worries that oppressed people before no longer seem so important to them. They become more altruistic, they care less about material goods, and their relationships become closer and more authentic. It is noteworthy that these effects do not disappear over time, often becoming permanent traits.

Transformation and joy

In his book Out of the Dark, Taylor tellsthe story of Tony, a Manchester man who had a heart attack at age 52. At the time, he was a successful businessman working 60 hours a week. When he regained consciousness, it seemed to him that he woke up from a dream. Suddenly he realized the value of things that he always considered common, for example, close people, natural things around him and the very fact of the existence of life.

At the same time, goals that previously dominatedhis lives, such as money, success and status, seemed completely unimportant. He experienced inner joy and a sense of connection with nature and other people he did not know before.

Realizing our own mortality can help us appreciate the simple joys of life.

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As a result of this transformation, Tony decidedsell your business and use some of the money to buy a launderette. He was called the “self-service laundry guru” in the area because he often spoke to his clients about his transformational experiences and reminded them not to take anything in their life for granted. As he told me: “I know what it means to be alive, how wonderful it is. And I want to share this with as many other people as possible. "

This is interesting: Secrets of the brain: is it really euphoria before death?

Waiting for death

Meetings with death really can sometimesto wake. They bring us out of a state of trance, in which we are indifferent to life and not aware of its benefits. And yet, simply contemplating death can give us a number of benefits. In Buddhist tradition, monks in ancient times were advised to meditate in cemeteries or sit next to any dead, decaying bodies they found during their travels. They were advised to think that it would one day be their destiny. It is believed that this method helped to realize the impermanence of life and the stupidity of attachment to the material world.

It turns out that thinking about death can be helpful

In one Buddhist text, the Satipatthana Sutta,The Buddha tells his monks that if they see a dead body — recently dead, eaten by animals, or nothing more than a skeleton or a pile of bones — they should say to themselves, “My own body is of the same nature; it will become the same and will not escape it. " Thus, the monk realizes the impermanence of life, and, as the Buddha said: "he lives detachedly and does not cling to anything in the world."

Of course, such conclusions canseem a little extreme, but we really need to remind ourselves that death is real and today there is no one who can escape it.

As the author of the article notes, perhaps for usit is impracticable to meditate next to dead bodies, but we must every day reflect on the reality and inevitability of death, because it is always and everywhere present, and its transforming power is always available. Realizing our own mortality can be a liberating and awakening experience that can - paradoxically - help us live truly and fully. Perhaps for the first time.