Death Ruminations

Thinking of the end, and then working backward—the clarity of the inevitable deadline

Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

I think about death every other day, if not every day. Not that I have a fascination with it, but it does serve as an overall compass, a deadline, a sense of finality to the life that I imagine, theorize about, and plan for.

I think about death the way I would think of retirement if I began a new job, or succession if I were elected the president of my nation. I think about it first, and then I work backward.

At an early age, I got to know that people die, and that it doesn’t matter what those left behind will think and feel; I got to see that death ushers in irreversible realities.

Many people fear death, or at least don’t like to talk about it, but I think to do so is to forfeit the clarity that this inevitable deadline brings.

I look at myself when taking on a task or job, I imagine how my life would be if this ended up being what I did for the rest of it, and then I ask myself, “If this is what you did until the end of time, would you die a happy man?” I …