Its amazing that via death the perfection of life and its beauty is revealed! (An excerpt from a poem of mine Amazing)

Haven given much thought to life, I discovered a simple truth, that we can never truly appreciate life without the consciousness of death. Given all the sadness and hurt that is often associated with death, theres also this realization it brings along with it: everything around us is temporary; from money to relationships, pleasure, pain, success, failure and everything you can think about. Once this reality dawns on you, it is bound to initiate either of these two types of responses: that life in itself is meaningless since it cannot be held onto, and as such you denature every atom of essence you had once ascribed to it, leading to a carefree approach to all that surrounds you, OR that life should be maximized at every turn because theres no guarantee of a second chance, which prompts you to ascribe more value to life, leading to a careful approach to all that surrounds you. Of these two responses, one causes you to undermine the fundamentals of life like love and relationships and the other causes you to highly esteem them. One leads to a passive approach to life; the other ignites a proactive response. With one, you simply live to die and with the other, you die to live. Either ways, death throws a coin to your face and the side you choose to focus on is totally dependent on you.

Too many people spend their last moments in retrospect; regretting certain decisions they made; wishing they had taken certain steps they avoided; hoping for a chance to right some of their wrongs or at least attempt to; disgusted at the fact that they have given their all to one part of their life only to realize that, that part of them wasnt the most important. At the harvest, thats when the wheat are separated from the tares and how it will hurt to discover that you have spent your time, energy and resources nurturing weeds instead of the good seeds. For these people, the reality of death struck them at a moment too late. They were so busy trying to live whilst numb to the sure cold embrace of death, they ran without keeping the end in perspective and as a result of which, the race was vague; They chased everything but caught little or nothing. For where theres no vision, the people are without restraint.

But this does not have to be you. Yes experience is a good teacher but it doesnt have to be yours. Heres an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others at no cost at all. If you will just take a moment to go through the following exercises, I assure you, your approach to life and your life in itself will never remain the same. By investing the next couple of minutes, you are sure to save a whole lifetime.

EXERCISE

(Separating the wheat from the tares.)

1. Write down the five things that mean the most to you in life.
2. On a scale of 1-10, how much is your input on them (By this I mean your time, energy and resources)
3. Write down five things you want to be remembered for by the following sets of people:

• Your parents (if they are still alive)
• Your child/children
• Your spouse
• Your friends
• Your Church/Religious association
• Your colleagues
• Your country

4. If you die now, will your world (the above stated sets of people) we better off or ruined without you?
5. If indeed there are such places as heaven and hell, if you pass away at this moment, where are you headed?

NB: if you arent married or you are without a child, answer questions 3 i & ii regardless for it will help you prepare for their coming. Also, be sure to write down your answers in a journal or in a choice book of yours and not on a random sheet of paper; that way, you can easily go back to them when the need arises. It is important that you keep them ever before you. If you can, stick them with a sticker pad or with a pin on your bed-head, close to your dressing mirror or on the door of your room; that way you will never forget to run by them. Given that your priorities can be subject to change, if there arise such changes, be sure to modify them in the journal or book wherein the previous ones were written.

Majority of the questions are relationship-centered because from my observation, that is the core of our existence on earth and by building healthy relationships, you are in turn building a healthy life.

It is vanity to spend your whole life living for your loved ones without spending as much time living with them. Kruseaphix