Recently I had a medical scare. It got me thinking again about life and death. As a depressed person, I’ve thought of life and death before. Lots. So what made this time different? Well, it’s because my attitude towards life has shifted towards a more positive, encouraging one. I want to live that one more day, to see that one more sunrise and sunset. And that’s quite a big difference from how I used to feel.

Life can be complicated, unfair, mean and nasty. It can be something you don’t want or appreciate. But life is much more than the struggles and negative stuff you face. Life is a gift. Life is valuable, even if you don’t believe that line right now. And your life doesn’t end or begin now. You continue on in some form or another.

Life for the taking

Like any gift, life is meant to be enjoyed and used. It’s yours for the taking. You are in charge.

I won’t pretend that life is always happy or good. I won’t try to convince you that you’re in charge of what happens to you, because that isn’t always the case. Bad things happen. Mean people come and go. Experiences aren’t always good ones. Harmful things happen even to the best person.

But, life moves past every horrible, terrible moment you think you can’t endure. It’s like a river that keeps flowing. If you really think about life, what is it but time? And what is time really about?

Life isn’t limited to a time line.

People love to define things. We want order and a sense of continuity. So when a person is born, we define his or her time alive as a lifetime. Some people get scared of death. They want to live past their lifetime. Cryo-freezing, cloning, and putting the human brain into a robot so a person can live forever are some ways people try to cheat time.

Time exists as some weird, intangible dimension of space that no one can really describe. We can say we know what time is scientifically and empirically. We can judge time by our human understanding. But scientists admit they don’t really know what time is. And if time isn’t really understood, why are we placing an emphasis on a person’s single lifetime? Isn’t it possible that a person can live beyond their timeline?

Of course it is! Think of all the famous people we still talk about or admire. Those people aren’t really dead because memory keeps them alive. In that simple sense, they have lived past their lifetimes.

Religions talk about the soul living past a lifetime. Some believe in reincarnation. Some talk about a second world where everyone is happy. Either way, life goes past death. Life in some form continues past the point where either your body gives up or you do.

Don’t give up on life

If I continue in a spirit or an ethereal form, I’m not really dead. And in the bigger picture, I could have many smaller lifetimes in a larger lifetime. And who knows what that larger lifetime is like. Does it loop endlessly or eventually end? There’s a lot more questions, but for now, I think I’ll just leave it at this point. The lifetime you have now is a precious one. It is one you should respect, embrace, and love just a little bit more than you do. There’s nothing wrong with loving life. Don’t give up on it.

Find me on twitter @tereziafarkas