Life Trumps Death
2629
Self Improvement > Grief
Mar 1, 2007
Clayton Shold
Life Trumps Death
Do you ever ponder the meaning of life? Why are we here? Perhaps these questions surface when we receive news we'd rather not receive, the passing of an uncle, a beloved aunt, a friend's spouse who died for the wrong reason. I'm not sure I believe myself when I justify the news by saying this is the circle of life.
I don't make a habit of reading the obituary columns in the newspaper but occasionally I read about strangers. Many have experienced a long and full life, contributed to society in a meaningful way, were visible within their community. I think how proud their family must be, I also imagine the hurt and grief they are experiencing. I read about the 42-year old father who has succumbed to cancer and leaves behind a wife and two children and I wonder how this is fair. My heart aches when I read about the young child tragically killed in an accident as my eyes fill with tears.
I'm no stranger to death. It scares me and I don't deal well with it. I find death emotionally overwhelming. It is hurt, compassion, sadness, pain, empathy, love all rolled together that hits like a tsunami.
I've lost high school friends to accidents, drugs, and disease. I've seen first hand the impact on a family when their young daughter took her own life. Like so many others, I have said goodbye to relatives only after they have gone.
I don't know why I?m so impacted by death. Its not that I think about it all the time. Maybe I subconsciously fear the loss of a parent, a sibling, a family member. Perhaps I'm selfish, a coward who doesn't want to die.
Young people seldom think of death, they are to busy living life as if they are invincible. Old people tend to prepare for death and accept the event as a natural and inevitable occurrence. Experience and reality have tempered their emotions. The grief and hurt is still there, so is the reflection on the positive aspects of the individual's life. For some, their biggest worry is if they will out live their friends, who will attend their funeral.
Maybe this aging process will help me to become less sensitive to the loss of not only those I love, but to those I have only read about in the newspaper. I am thankful my fear of death is more than offset by my passion for life. So it should be.
So where does this discussion of death take us? It could be to the end of a journey, or the beginning of a new one depending on your beliefs. If you were to have a tombstone, what would it read? Here we are back to the question, what is our mission, our purpose, our goal? One accolade might read, "Here lays an honest person who cared about the people around her, respected others and made a positive difference in the lives of everyone she encountered." If we envision how we want others to remember us, it might provide a valuable compass to aid us down the path of life.
In a perfect world, perhaps caring and understanding might extend well beyond our community and our country. Imagine a common bond based on a desire for truth, justice, peace, and mutual respect.
We can?t do a lot about death. We can very much impact life - our own and others. Clayton Shold shares his experience at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations affects sales success. Learn more at www.salesdialogue.com
I don't make a habit of reading the obituary columns in the newspaper but occasionally I read about strangers. Many have experienced a long and full life, contributed to society in a meaningful way, were visible within their community. I think how proud their family must be, I also imagine the hurt and grief they are experiencing. I read about the 42-year old father who has succumbed to cancer and leaves behind a wife and two children and I wonder how this is fair. My heart aches when I read about the young child tragically killed in an accident as my eyes fill with tears.
I'm no stranger to death. It scares me and I don't deal well with it. I find death emotionally overwhelming. It is hurt, compassion, sadness, pain, empathy, love all rolled together that hits like a tsunami.
I've lost high school friends to accidents, drugs, and disease. I've seen first hand the impact on a family when their young daughter took her own life. Like so many others, I have said goodbye to relatives only after they have gone.
I don't know why I?m so impacted by death. Its not that I think about it all the time. Maybe I subconsciously fear the loss of a parent, a sibling, a family member. Perhaps I'm selfish, a coward who doesn't want to die.
Young people seldom think of death, they are to busy living life as if they are invincible. Old people tend to prepare for death and accept the event as a natural and inevitable occurrence. Experience and reality have tempered their emotions. The grief and hurt is still there, so is the reflection on the positive aspects of the individual's life. For some, their biggest worry is if they will out live their friends, who will attend their funeral.
Maybe this aging process will help me to become less sensitive to the loss of not only those I love, but to those I have only read about in the newspaper. I am thankful my fear of death is more than offset by my passion for life. So it should be.
So where does this discussion of death take us? It could be to the end of a journey, or the beginning of a new one depending on your beliefs. If you were to have a tombstone, what would it read? Here we are back to the question, what is our mission, our purpose, our goal? One accolade might read, "Here lays an honest person who cared about the people around her, respected others and made a positive difference in the lives of everyone she encountered." If we envision how we want others to remember us, it might provide a valuable compass to aid us down the path of life.
In a perfect world, perhaps caring and understanding might extend well beyond our community and our country. Imagine a common bond based on a desire for truth, justice, peace, and mutual respect.
We can?t do a lot about death. We can very much impact life - our own and others. Clayton Shold shares his experience at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations affects sales success. Learn more at www.salesdialogue.com
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
When arranging flowers, balloon s, or business presentations, do you use the rule of three? With flowers and balloons, optically we prefer odd numbered or non-symmetric arrangements. Impress your friends with this tip, don't make a balloon
Category:
Do you think Jullius Caesar ried Marcus Brutus kept a task list? Perhaps he should have! So how do you manage your task list? WHAT ... you don't have one? Better start one today! One of the biggest challenges we have in our fast paced
Category:
Confucius observed, "He who learns but does not think, lost! He who thinks but does not learn in great danger." Learning and thinking are fundamentally linked. They need to be. Let me state a working assumption, that
Category:
If you go to e dictionary, you will find a long list of definitions for mindset, mind, and set. Interestingly ey all come before success! Mind-set (noun) beliefs at affect somebody's attitude - a set of beliefs or a way of inking
Category:
All pumped up to attend that upcoming sales training workshop? Maybe a little anxious as it's been a while since you took a course. Expecting good things for the coin you are shelling out as the company isn't paying the freight this time around.
Category:
Many years ago I attene a sales workshop in Arizona. It in't take much to convince me to leave Toronto Canaa in the mile of winter an go to Scottsale. Little i I know how much that trip woul change my outlook on selling. Let me
Category:
Do you ever ponder the meaning of life? Why are we here? Perhaps these questions surface when we receive news we'd rather not receive, the passing of an uncle, a beloved aunt, a friend's spouse who died for the wrong reason. I'm not sure I believe
Category:
Picture the announcer in the middle of the ring broadcasting - "In this corner, wearing the red shorts we have the challenger, weighing 217 pounds, winner of this year's collegiate championship, introducing Sales Mindset. Defending the long-standing
Category:
As conflicting a statement as it may seem many would e wise to suscrie to this advice. If you are a sales person, you are in one of the toughest professions out there. It has een said less than 1% of the population has what it takes to
Category:
I hope it has been some time since you last had a dead battery. It's not a lot of fun, especially if it is pouring rain and you don't have a set of er cables. Most people know a battery has a positive and a negative terminal. When
Category:
Did you know sales success and icebergs have something in common? And no ...this article is not about cold calling! Many of us know an iceberg has about 7/8th of its mass below water. But did you know the largest Northern Hemisphere iceberg
Category:
12. 3 Tricks for 06
2005 disppered t speed tht quntum physics is yet unble to explin. Thnk goodness I hd gol to chieve! Let me strt by sying I don't do new yers resolutions. I do however like to set gols tht re prcticl, mesurble, nd
Category:
Let me ask, have you heard the joke about the light being on inside the fridge? Top sales professionals, like fridges, are always "on". Let me ask, have you heard the joke about the light being on inside the fridge? You know, where you
Category:
Too much stress? Get dressed before bed, make breakfast the night before, and work with the little voices ... say what? Ever feel you have too much stress in your life? Most of know there is good stress and bad stress. Good stress challenges
Category:
Other links at Self Improvement > Grief
Flowers have been displayed at the time of one's passing in nearly every culture throughout time, and their importance continues today. At funerals, wakes, memorials, and cremation services, flowers and plants are a sensitive way to commemorate the life
Category:
Do you ever ponder the meaning of life? Why are we here? Perhaps these questions surface when we receive news we'd rather not receive, the passing of an uncle, a beloved aunt, a friend's spouse who died for the wrong reason. I'm not sure I believe
Category:
If you ask most people why they have not achieved their goals or the level of success they desire, they will usually respond with some built-in excuse (negative belief) that is holding them back. Underlying this excuse or negative belief is usually a
Category:
Often times when a relationship ends there are things left unsaid and questions left unanswered. Through the use of this technique you can resolve these issues and allow yourself to move on and let go of the past. This technique can also be used with
Category:
You may envision going out to a beautiful spot and scattering your loved ones remains. While this can be a beautiful, ceremonial and a very healing way of returning a loved one to nature, it can also be a disaster. The following guidelines, will make the
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68228
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
