‘Death’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life

There is a dogma that says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I think the reality is that what doesn’t kill you can leave you maimed.

The point of contemplating our future death is to bring us back to a vivid consciousness of the here and now. The purpose is to clarify the choices we have, to have a sense of our priorities so that we can take steps to shape our lives around them.

Sometimes it’s not so much a case of “It didn’t work”, but rather a case of “I didn’t work”.

Somehow I managed to ride through the shock, the agony, the chaos and emptiness and finally a kind of saying goodbye, and a kind of acceptance, and she fell into a different place in my life. But now, a few months on — after all that work I did — she’s still dead!

What does it mean to be in control of our lives? Is it at all possible, or desirable? Is it a better idea to try and let go of our need to control, or to find a way to exert influence at least over the meaning of our lives when bad times hit?