A major stumbling block to acquiring life insurance is the whole confronting mortality thing; it’s just not very pleasant. Intellectually, we understand it, but from an emotional standpoint it can be disturbing. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if we could derive purpose and strength from our own mortality?
Well we can. Just by acknowledging it we can gain perspective and a sense of urgency. Being cognizant that our time here is limited can be invigorating. It can help us see that we don’t have time to get caught up in the pettiness and trivialities that others seem to wallow in constantly.
Embracing our own mortality can give us a sense of purpose and focus that will help us achieve our goals. When we are aware, at least subliminally, that we don’t know how much time we have left, it can help force us to do our best. It can help us to be grateful for each day and to treat it as gift, which, in reality, it is.
The cliché question is What would I do differently if I knew I only had six months, or a year, or two years to live? The truth of the matter is you don’t know you have more time than that. We are all terminal and so we must act accordingly.
This is not to say that we should become morbidly obsessed with death a la Harold in Harold and Maude. It is saying that recognizing, accepting and embracing our own mortality can be exhilarating and empowering.
Life is full of obstacles, and it is our job to navigate those obstacles in a manner that is most beneficial to us. Our own mortality is usually one of the biggest obstacles we face and to the extent we can embrace it, or at least neutralize it, we can get on with the business of living.
If you got depressed reading this, I apologize, for it was not meant to be depressing, but rather the opposite: uplifting and invigorating. Staring down your own mortality can generate the same kind of catharsis that standing up to the 5th grade bully did: one less thing in life to worry about.
Oh, the title of the essay, memento mori is Latin for: remember you are mortal. Something we all should keep in mind (especially when the time comes to buy life insurance).