1+3 reasons why death is good for your life

In this post I invite you to discuss 4 points on importance of something many are so afraid of…Things I’ll discuss below use Yoga as an example – but they are quite general – you are welcome to stay and read even if you are not a Yoga fan.

And to put you in a good mood – let’s play a little game first – I’ll list a few common excuses for not practicing Yoga and you will smile with “wise-understanding-all-that face” every time you recognize one.

I’m too tired after work!
It’s raining/snowing/cold outside!
I’m hungry…
I already practiced this week/month/year!
My friend who is usually coming with me to Yoga class is not coming today…
I forgot to wash my special Yoga t-shirt…
I have no time…
My colleagues/friends/parents said Yoga is for weak/girls/elders/losers only!
I don’t know…
…you are welcome to continue the list in the comments

Sounds familiar? – No? Not even some of these (or your own favorite)? – Then you are a Super(wo)man. All the real-life people (me included) – let’s continue…

My biggest secret – and I suppose it is at least somewhat true for many of us – is that these things are obstacles not only for our practice, but for all the things in life. Lack of motivation is one of the biggest enemies of modern life – it stops us from achieving our goals, it stops us from even starting to think that our dreams may become a reality. It’s only partially our fault:

we were raised this way – to become interested in something new for a day/month/year and then jump to something newer, something exciting (=new) – only to loose our interest again and again… Why? – Because modern culture is all about consuming – and if you don’t get excited about new “products” (new Yoga mat for your practice, new “flavor of Yoga” class – some “Yoga with your parrot” or whatever, new special t-shirt for your Yoga practice, etc.) – all the production chain would have to stop and people won’t get payed to buy their own “new products”…
anyway – that is only part of the story (us being part of this culture and raised/influenced this way). What is the other part? – Us! Should we do something about it? Change our approach to life perhaps? Find our motivation again? – Let’s do it for a change…

And that is the moment to remember about death. Literally – remember about it, think about it. – Don’t become depressed about it though. – Instead make it your personal and constant motivator!

What if you die tomorrow? Did you say to your partner, any person dear to you today that you love him/her?
What did you do today to know it was worth it? – If you know Yoga works so well for you – was it worth it to spend evening on a couch instead of going to the class?
What if you die in a month/year? – What important projects were you postponing are possible now? – Start and contribute constantly to them – and maybe one day you will realize that you made your dream come true, instead of realizing one day that before you were not brave/active enough and now you are “too old for sure”…

That is the number one reason why death is so important for my life… How about you?

Here are some other points I have in my mind:

Remembering that people die, often die for no good reason – helps me to put things in prospective.
Helping others who might be less fortunate than us (in whatever way) – have a greater chance of happening if we remember we can die. Compassion grows from our own death too… Think about it – all the “savings” we have (in whatever form they are) wouldn’t be needed once we die.
Death helps prioritize things and improve attitude to life – remember, like in “Groundhog Day”: “What if there is no tomorrow?”…

And don’t get me wrong – I smile all the time – I’m not some grumpy old man thinking of death all the time…

And if you think about it – that is because I remember about death and I’m happy I can use it to help me be alive!

What about you? What do you think? Is death your friend for a more mindful life?