Relationship Between Death and Being Free (Essay Sample)

What Relationship Does Death Have With Being Free?
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What relationship does death have with being free?
According to Abdala (2011, p. 164) being free means having the liberty to lead our lives the way we want. The only thing that is certain to cut short that freedom is death. Human beings, like all living things, are mortal. We have the profound knowledge that at some point in time we will eventually die. The knowledge that any moment might be our last is scary for any person. However, surprisingly that same knowledge can have a positive impact on people’s lives. People don’t always have to dwell on their impending death, but that awareness subconsciously motivates them to chase their ambitions, to make progress so that the world be a better place for the coming generations (Nauert, 2012; Loewen, 2014). Even so, such motivation is not inborn; it develops as a person progresses from teenage years to adult life.
Acknowledging mortality does not happen instantaneously. It is a gradual process conjured by life experience from childhood to adulthood (Leming & Dickinson, 2010). For instance, children and teenagers are mostly oblivious of mortality. That explains why they feel free to engage often in risky activities such as fights. Peer pressure and the drive to explore new things are some of the motivating factors for such actions (Cebulla & Tomaszewski, 2009). Loewen (2014), is of the opinion that the life experience of a teenager gives no probable cause that death might be around the corner. But for adults who have understood what is at stake, they certainly do not venture in that road. That also explains why as a parent you want to be informed of what your children are up to; so that you can monitor such activities.
Loewen (2014) further points out that it is around the age of twenty that most people experience that change in perception of their personality and what they aspire to become. At this point, figuratively, our earlier selves experience death. It is during this reevaluation of self that the reality hits in that we are mortal and can die (Dennis, 2009, p. 203). We begin to notice that people around us are aging; that the energy they once possessed is disappearing. However, such certainty is balanced by the fact that we never know the time of our death. It is this balance that makes us appreciate that everything at the moment is possible (Loewen, 2014). Knowing that we can die and yet go on with life is an essential part that defines humanity.
However, not all people are freed by such sentiments. Some people waste their life because of the present hardships they face. Examples of such difficulties can be the death of a lover or a spouse (Leming & Dickinson, 2010). It is understandable that such a loss can take long periods to heal and to adjust afterwards will not be easy. Some people will resort to acts such as perennial drinking and risky driving. However, depression and feeling of loss should not amount to recklessness. Being reckless is like accepting your death passively because you increase your chances of encountering death. Such people should appreciate that being alive means they still have a chance to rise from where they are, embrace a positive attitude and try to mend things. That is certainly what our passed loved ones would like us to do.
The process of living is tough and complicated. Sometimes what life hurls at you is too much to handle on your own. The rate of teenage suicide confirms how much it is hard to handle things on your own such that sometimes death comes as a viable option to end the bad experience (Huddle & Schleifer, 2012). That is to choose premature burial willingly. Such early deaths do not apply to teenagers alone but to adult people too. The question is whether death will truly set a person free. No one understands for sure but what is certain is that such a person will leave grief that will gravely affect the family that is left behind (Leming & Dickinson, 2010). The underlying fact remains that to avoid premature death each person needs the support and constructive advice in their lives; not just from family members but the whole community.
Avoiding premature death does not end with taking advice. The person must also be able to discriminate between the advice that concerns who you really are and who you are expected to be (Loewen, 2014). It is particularly important for the young. The advice you take should promote who you want to be but not force you to conform to a particular category expected by the people around you (Gino, 2011). Societal pressure to conform can apply to career selection, relationships and even marriage. Accepting what is contrary to what you want to pursue in life is in itself a step towards premature death. Hence, the freedom we have, and the choices we consequently make with it influences the timing of our death.
Death has shaped our beliefs about afterlife over time. All ideas about the next world tend to address whether there is freedom after death. There are five main universal ideas on the afterlife (Scheffler, 2013; (Loewen, 2014)). First is the belief that when a person dies their soul return immediately as a newborn. In the second instance, the soul is judged then returns back through reincarnation. In the third category, the soul is judged and continues in the afterlife. The fourth idea is that of the soul continuation into the afterlife without undergoing judgment. The final belief is that death is the end of existence. The different beliefs directly reflect the different social structures we live in today. Our modern existence is characterized ...