by Yvette Durham

Created on: May 18, 2010

Here follows a ditty (though some may think the subject taboo):

Friend, I mention this inevitable fact not to make you blue

but because to wake up to it can be most empowering.

Its time we stopped evading this truth, time to quit cowering.

We will all die, sooner or later, and there we have it.

That’s everyone’s conclusion; how our destiny is writ.

I used to be terrified of this eventual demise

but my fear actually turned out to be a gift in disguise…

Like we should with all types of fear, I stared it straight in the face

and read books on the afterlife, the near-death experience case.

I was left with peace- excitement even - at life after life:

Happily, now, I wallow not in death’s shadow, gone is that strife.

Whether you have faith in eternal life or not, my friend,

there are two distinct ways to spend your life before you transcend:

The first: To see life as a challenge- then your belief will make it so,

to live through the trappings of the physical plane, governed by ego.

The second is to treat life as a blessed gift, to cherish and love

the way a child relishes a Christmas present she’s been dreaming of.

Glow in gratitude for it; play with it passionately- with purpose-

see it as yours to control as you desire, your own blank canvas.

So take your pick to live either in the shadow, or boldly;

to live with fizzing energy and fervor, or just coldly.

Death is inevitable yet life is a matter of our choice.

Why not pack it with joy, a sublime endowment to rejoice?

Learn more about this author, Yvette Durham.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.