You're Not Dead Yet

Many of us believe that living in extremes either on the black side or the white side of life.  We fail to see the gray areas and when it comes to dying we are not any different.  We look at death as either really horrible or something we don't talk about at all.  We fail to see that death is just death and that discussing it does not put us any closer to it and in fact helps us to understand it on our own terms.  Although there are many ways to look at death and some plans to be made for our loved ones, we cannot live as though we are already dead.  I understand in a deep and profound manner that some of us are dealing with health issues that are severe and whereby the symptoms remind us that we are going to die.  It is easy to fall into an emotional trap when someone is diagnosed with cancer or heart disease.  Yet what I know in my heart is that life can be done even when death seems so close.  

Affirming what we want often times gets us there.  If we affirm that we are going to be financially prosperous the mind gets the message and after much convincing we become more prosperous, sometimes in many ways including the acquisition of more money.  It is the same with life and death. When we tell ourselves that it's over then it is.  This is not to say that we might not be accurate or that we are ready to leave this earth, but we have a choice up until that time comes.  That is when we decide to live in a way that matters, doing the things we feel matter and sharing our love with those that matter most to us.  The fact that we are alive can be translated into one simple fact, we are not dead.  We can choose and if we decide to we choose life. 

It is hard to know what it feels like to be diagnosed with a health issue that most believe will kill you, yet the time that we have left can be used to enjoy what part of life is left and remember all the wonderful things that life shared with you.  For the people left behind it is not as simple to accept that they will likely lose someone they love.  This is why it is essential for each of us to be honest about death and willing to openly share our feelings with those who love us.  Waiting until that last minute is a choice yet my encouragement is to have that dialog and to share those deeper feelings and fears.  My encouragement to those who are dying and those who are likely to see someone they love leave this earth is to share the loving feelings and to consider not censoring that which should be talked about.  

Elliott Maximo Collazo