I am seventy-four years old, and a few years back, I had an
epiphany of sorts. I realized that
gravity wins.
In recent decades, I have tried to live a healthy
lifestyle. I used to jog, and now I
walk. I ride my bike in the warmer
seasons of the year. I have tried to eat
a healthy diet, with a few exceptions.
I have never met a donut I didn’t like. Diet and exercise
can slow the process, but eventually, we all go the way of all flesh. Aging can
be compared to furniture; when your chest starts to drop into your drawers.
You have probably heard about the octogenarian who once
said, “there are three things that happen to you when you get old. You lose your eyesight and hearing; I can’t
remember what the third one is.” A
realistic and healthy perspective on life and death can be therapeutic.
COVID-19 and the fear of death have manipulated our
society. No one wants to die. Anybody who says they have no fear is either
a fool or a liar. Reasonable steps to avoid danger are proper. Nonetheless, a morbid fear of the reality of
our ultimate demise can rob us of life even before death.
Gravity does win. In
the recent movie about Mr. Rogers, when speaking about death, he said,
“anything we can talk about we can manage.”
If we never come to grips with our mortality, we will neither live well
nor die well.
