“The Book of Awakening” by Mark Nepo

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that, here at SevenPonds, we’ve talked several times before about accepting our deaths and embracing the unknown. We know there are benefits to accepting death: making the end-of-life experience more peaceful, helping us move on after losing a loved one, ensuring we enjoy our lives to the fullest, etc. And yet there are a number of reasons why accepting death can be a scary process (to say the least). In The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo outlines the ways in which we can have more fulfilling lives and embrace our mortal destinies.

“The goal is not to cheat death, but to live in the stream with a humility and aliveness that only an acceptance of death can release.”

As hard as it may seem accepting death goes hand-in-hand with accepting and embracing life. As Nepo eloquently explains, “The goal is not to cheat death, but to live in the stream with a humility and aliveness that only an acceptance of death can release” (83). Let’s face it, the chances of any one of us beating death and living forever are pretty small. By embracing the fact that death is a natural part of life we can move on with greater clarity and appreciation for the time we do have. From that perspective our entire outlook on life can shift from negative to positive. As counterintuitive as it might sound, by embracing what seems to be the most negative aspect of human existence we can live in a more positive and uplifting space.

“When we try to deny death, we can grow sick from frantically chasing any challenge that will occupy our minds. In living the other extreme, we can grow sick from thinking only of death,from letting death be all that we see. This makes a sad career of fear.”

Photo credit: wasoxygen

In addition to the benefits of accepting death, denying death takes a great deal of unnecessary effort. Nepo elaborates on the exhausting pursuit of denying death: “When we try to deny death, we can grow sick from frantically chasing any challenge that will occupy our minds. In living the other extreme, we can grow sick from thinking only of death, from letting death be all that we see. This makes a sad career of fear” (83). Living in fear is no doubt a tiring prospect, and I can’t say I know anybody who wants to live this way. Still, by refusing to talk about death openly many people keep themselves locked in a fear-propelled cycle of denial. The task of opening ourselves up to the reality of death can feel too frightening to face at first, but by pushing ourselves we are ultimately rewarded.

Before I leave you to ponder the prospect of accepting death, I’ll leave you with a few questions from Nepo to get you started:

What is your greatest fear about dying?

What is your greatest fear about living?

Do these fears have anything in common?

How would you shape your life if you didn’t have these fears?

What if you shaped your life in this way anyway?