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Guest Column | Making peace with the fragility of life
Life changes like the seasons of the year till it comes to an end, one must make peace with its fragility and uncertainties, while
Death gets a bad reputation. Most people would rather focus on life and the positive things associated with it, knowing well that one must start waiting in the queue as soon as one is born. Growing older is a privilege denied to many but the young and old must march towards death all the same.
Life changes like the seasons of the year till it comes to an end. Therefore, it is not possible to talk about life without talking about death as well. After all, life is just the interval between birth and death.Most of us try not to dwell on our mortality, till the angel of death suddenly kisses one of our friends, relatives or acquaintances, giving us a rude jolt.
In the last two years, many of us have lost someone dear to us. The sudden shock, which is most painful to the human mind, has made each one of us ponder on the uncertainty and fragility of life. Principal Bhupinder Singh was one such friend who recently left the earthly abode to meet his maker. Having known him myself and after reading about the man who was respected and adored by many, I feel it is important to discuss death more openly and prepare ourselves well in time for the final trip.
As the years pass, we learn to bid goodbye to our friends, relatives and other near and dear ones and acceptance sets in the due course of time. However, when it is our turn to say the final goodbye and take the last step into oblivion, acceptance takes relatively more time.
Accepting the death of one’s immediate family member is very difficult . It involves overcoming shock, pain, sadness, tears and the misery generated by the loss. Thus, one should make it easier for their family by helping them accept the loss and mourn gracefully.
All of us have good, bad and ugly sides and nobody likes to be seen in a bad light even after one is gone. If you do not want your spouse, children and others to know certain aspects of your personality, erase such records from diaries, laptops or mobile phones.
One also knows, which of their belongings will be useful to certain family members and should gift these items to the right persons. One should also take a decision about possessions to be donated such as books and clothes.
Of course, preparing a will is very important to simplify matters for one’s heirs. Donating one’s body or organs is another important decision, which can only be taken by the person concerned as religious and cultural beliefs are to be considered.
While preparing for the end, one should loosen the strings of one’s purse to experience the sheer joy of giving, not to religious institutions and NGOs where it may be misused, but to those who genuinely need it.
Perhaps, one should start working on fulfilling the dreams that had to be abandoned earlier due to a variety of reasons such as time and resources. And lastly, this is the time to write about oneself in a journal, as honestly as possible. It may not get printed, but your children, or grandchildren may one day find some useful life lessons in it. colcheema1942@gmail.com
(The writer is a Panchkula-based freelance contributor)
