Author's Note: I'm proud to say that Ryan's Thoughts is back for a second year. I decided to write about this particular topic because it is something that many of us wonder about and many of us fear. I'm obviously not a scholar philosopher, so I encourage your opinions to be stated, too. Thanks.
Death is one of the most feared things in society and we mourn over it whenever it strikes one of our loved ones, but not only is it feared, it is one of the most mysterious subjects that the human race has faced. What happens when we pass? Will it be an emotionless emptiness or a portal to another world of sorts? Should we be scared or should we embrace it? These questions tear at our conscious and it leaves us in a state of utter confusion.
"The hour of departure has arrived- I to die and you to live. Which is better, God only knows." These were some of the last words spoken by the Greek philosopher Socrates, after being condemned to death. What he is saying with this quote is that death might be a better situation than life. In this speech, called The Apology, by Socrates he brings up two of the main theories of what happens to us when we die. Centuries later, I'm sure that most of us are familiar with them, too.
The first theory is that when we die, we enter an eternal "sleep". Nothing happens, but nothing disturbs us. All eternity goes by as if it was one night's sleep. Now I ask you, how bad is that? Instead of having the daily burdens of Life, you get to spend the rest of eternity in the best night's sleep you've ever had. Sure you may not want to do that, but it sure isn't something to be scared of.
The second theory is something that most religious people believe in. A large percentage of people believe that when we pass we will be transported to another world where all of the other souls that have died on earth are kept. Nearly all of us would jump at the opportunity to spend time with the loved ones in our lives that perished. Also, to be able to reason and debate with minds such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Shakespeare, and so forth would be a much greater experience than anything you could find in the world that we live in today.
I'm not saying that Life is a horrible thing that we must all rid ourselves of, but I am saying that we shouldn't live in fear of what could happen, causing us not to live to our full potential. Death isn't an end, it's a beginning. Once we realize this, we can step out of the fear that shadows us and be the individuals that we could be.
