Change what you think about death and dying

 

 

Death and dying don’t always have to make you sad.

I know. What a radical idea, right? In today’s world death and dying is something totally taboo. It’s not something people talk about except if it’s a shooting in the news or a celebrity who died of cancer the night before. The bad thing is most people always focus on the pain death invokes in us. We feel bad for our neighbor whose husband just died, we say “I’m sorry” to our friend who lost an aunt, even shed a tear for them.

It is important to grieve the loss of our loved ones. It doesn’t matter if it is a pet, a parent, or an old friend from college. The outcome is always the same: we miss the person we lost. Grieving is what makes us human. If we didn’t have a love for one another, we wouldn’t be able to laugh or bond with each other. Death is something we should embrace; it reminds us that our humanity is still intact.

It may seem strange a young college student like me writes about grief and death so often. I wish there were a resource like mine out there a few years ago when I needed it. If my words about loss can help at least one person have a better day than I think I did my job. We have to change what we think about death and encourage conversation about it with our families and friends.

If we don’t talk about death, it always comes as a shock to us when we face it. Death is always a transformation, whether it be a positive or negative one, it’s up to you to decide that. It’s my belief that everyone needs a chance to rest and a chance to begin anew. People have to die to make room for new people. That’s how the cycle of life works.

Death allows us to embrace life to the fullest. Without death, the world would never renew itself again. Dying is just another part of a soul’s journey.