Death Should Motivate Us Not Scare Us | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

Death Should Motivate Us Not Scare Us

Making sense of the never ending cycle of life and death

79
Death Should Motivate Us Not Scare Us
Franz Von Stock

Death is everywhere: plants, animals and strangers are dying all around us everyday. Many of us think nothing of it and go on with our everyday lives, but when faced with the death of a loved one, everything changes. We then start to see just how real death is.

It reminds us of our own mortality and often leaves us confused and desperate for answers. Is there an afterlife? Will I ever see my loved ones again? What's the meaning behind it all?

One way we often try to confront this problem is turning to religion. Religion attempts to help us by providing clear answers to these question. Belief in an afterlife is a common thread in the world's religions and there's usually an explanation on how to make it there. A central problem in life is clearly diagnosed along with a solution. In Christianity, atonement is the solution to sin in order to make it into heaven. In Buddhism, negativity is overcome with self-discipline and enlightenment in order to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation, an idea that many of the world's religions also follow.

But what if there is no meaning that is sacrosanct after all? What if all these religions are false and just offering false hope? If we were to discover that these religions had no merit and that life had no clear meaning, we would naturally be filled with a sense of hopelessness. If there's no life after death, is life even worth living?

According to legendary French philosopher Albert Camus, despite such hopelessness, life is certainly worth living. The universe is indifferent to our suffering and we have involuntarily been thrown into a pointless cycle of life and death. Religion is simply a failed attempt to escape this fact. Life is inherently meaningless and we are left to fend for ourselves.

But while the inevitability of death seems overwhelming, death shouldn't fill us with despair. On the contrary, it should lead us to be rebellious against our fate. Rather than allowing ourselves to be overcome with despair, we must rebel against the indifference of the universe by enjoying our experience on this earth and living the best life that we possibly can.

So rather than being afraid of death, we should feel empowered by it. It should serve as a reminder that every moment in our lives is precious and must not be wasted.







Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
girls with mascot
Personal Photo

College is tough, we all know. Here are 8 gifs you will 99% relate to if you are in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

7 Things College Has Taught Me

Other than knowledge and all those important things

47
7 Things College Has Taught Me
We Know Memes

So, college is the place where you're supposed to learn all of these amazing life skills.

Here are the top seven skills I have learned thus far.

Keep Reading...Show less
college

College is some of the greatest years of anyone's life. Its a time to be outrageous, different and free; a time to do everything you were afraid to do. Here are 38 things you will learn during your four (maybe, five or six) years in college!

1. As a freshman, one does get to be called “freshman” by upperclassmen when they walk to parties in a mob of people.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

6 Unrealistic Expectations Society Has For Young Adults

Don't let the thesaurus-inspired vocabularies in our résumés fool you. We're actually just big kids.

2657
boy in adult clothes

Well over four feet tall and 100 pounds in weight, many of us "young adults" of the world still consider ourselves children. Big, working, college-attending, beer-drinking children. We may live on our own, know how to cook noodles, and occasionally use a planner, but don't be fooled; the youthful tendencies that reside within us still make their way into our daily lives. From choosing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games on a school night to going out in 30 degree weather without a coat, we still make decisions that our parents and grandparents would shake their heads at in disappointment. So why are we expected to know exactly how to be a wise, professional, sensible adult? It's not that we're irresponsible (for the most part, anyway). It's that we are young, inexperienced, and still have the sought-after, enthusiastic mentality that we can do and be whatever we want, which has not yet been tarnished by the reality of the world. These are just a few of the unrealistic expectations that society has for young adults.

Keep Reading...Show less
pizza
Fandango

There are a lot of foods in this world, but there is only one dish that stands above the rest: Pizza. If you're close to me or at least know who I am, then you know that I'm totally obsessed with pizza. It's one of my favorite things to eat and I will NEVER turn down a slice, even if it doesn't have my favorite toppings. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not thinking about pizza. I even sleep with a pizza pillow every night! There are many reasons why pizza stands above all other foods, and here are just a couple reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments