I was surfing reddit when I saw an AMA (Ask Me Anything) of a guy who had three major brain surgery in three months. Most people don’t survive those. But he did.
I read his thread and noticed one sentence where he states that if he’d be normal again then he’d travel the world. He wanted to see the world only after he realized about his mortality.
I want to see all the beauty of our country and of other countries. I wanted to travel the world and see the great world wonders and sights. This will have to hold off until my head is sealed up, and I am healthy enough to be in a foreign country with no risk of falling ill, but I never wanted to travel before, however, when you find out you might be on the clock, I began to feel the need to travel and see the world.
It may sound silly, but I didn’t want to pass away without seeing the great wonders of humanity first hand.
I have been noticing the same thing. The only people who are aware of their mortality are old people who are close to their death.
Especially at our younger ages, we feel immortal. The elderly know their mortality, even the middle aged know it well, because the human body begins to fade if not treated right at those ages. However, in your 20’s, the only ones that learn about mortality have serious health issues or are exposed to very difficult circumstances for themselves or a loved one.
We live like we’ll never die. We waste our time on mediocre stuff which serves no purpose whatsoever. We lose our temper on small misunderstanding. We get angry at people. We simply waste our time.
Most people don’t realize this until they’re suddenly aware of their mortality. If you let your life choose it’s fate, you’ll only realize about your mortality when you grow old. But it’s too late. Too late to do anything. Too late to make time for valuable stuff. Too late to travel the world. Too late for making most of your life.
Sadly, as I’ve pointed above, young people don’t realize this. And the only young people who realize this are those who have had near death experience in life.
However, you can realize about your mortality and bring immediate attention to the moment and live your life. It’s not difficult once you learn how to shift your awareness to it. Figure out what’s important and what’s not. Spend more time on things that actually matter.
Because human beings die, and you’re no exception.
Your end game goal is to make full use of your life working on a higher purpose to improve yourself, and finally the whole human race, at least in a small way.
You need to define and aggressively pursue your end game goals, whatever it is for you. Or else it’ll be too late for you when you realize.
A prince ought to have no other aim than war, the sole art that enables you to rise.
– Machiavelli