A Life & Death Situation

We think of life as being really important; as being the most important thing there is, in fact.

That’s when we are thinking about our own life, and the lives of the people and things we care about.

We human beings tend to be fairly ego-centric, meaning that we believe everything does, and should, revolve around our needs and desires.

And if you are 4 years old, that makes sense. Not so much so when you’re an adult, and still thinking in those terms.

The world does not, in fact, revolve around what human beings need and want. Nature is fairly impervious  to our needs.

Nature is structured around balance, not what humans want…as evidenced by the thunderstorm that arrives on the day of the picnic, or the earthquake & tidal wave that decimates an entire city and its population.

Nature is not “fair” or “loving” in the way we define those terms.

Nature just “is” what it is.

Nature is predicated on the bigger picture. A picture much larger and more profound than merely the concern for what individual human beings need.

So…life is important, but not more important than death.

We need both life & death in the world to maintain balance.

Imagine if plants and animals never died. We would be overrun by creatures and vegetation!

Everything operates within a life/death cycle. Summer turns to Autumn, which turns to Winter, which turns to Spring…

Plants die, and new ones are born. Animals die, and baby animals are born.

It is the way things are. It is the way things will always be. It is the way it needs to be to sustain the world and keep the world balanced.

This process must be impartial. If nature were to start showing favoritism, we would truly be in trouble!

So it is, I suppose, a good thing human beings are not ultimately in charge of these decisions. We tend to run amok, to choose egocentrically what we want to see happen, and to disregard the bigger picture!

Don’t we, in fact, see this happening on a regular basis with those things about which we are allowed to make decisions?

Think about it.

We often prolong life after the brain is dead, because we don’t want to suffer the loss of a loved one, or we don’t want to be accused of being the “cause” of their death.

We kill off bugs, insects, and other pesky things that play a vital role in nature, merely because we don’t like them bothering us.

We label dandelions as weeds, and kill them by the thousands, merely because our definition of beauty and a “healthy lawn” excludes these particular flowering plants.

In killing plants we don’t want, we often poison the ground and water supplies, thus killing off other precious parts of nature which are important to earth’s survival.

Sometimes we even kill people who kill people, and are self-righteously sanctioned to do so by our legal system, even though we are furious if someone dies prematurely due to illness, accident, or in some other way that we did not orchestrate or sanction.

Our researchers are frantically attempting to find ways to extend human life. Aren’t we already overrun by those blasted baby boomers, who absolutely refuse to die?

What are we thinking!

Life & Death. If they are in a balanced state, both are important parts of our very existence.

We can’t have life without death. We can’t have death with life.

Only a fear of the unknown, of not knowing much about death, keeps us from acknowledging and embracing this self-evident aspect of existence.

As eloquently stated by that very popular baby boomer musical group: “To every thing, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn turn. And a time to every purpose under heaven!”

So… let’s try not to get too uppity and full of ourselves! How about if we try to live within nature, rather than trying to make up our own rules.

It’ll work much better for us in the grand scheme of things, and we will no doubt be much more content and happy if we stop trying to do what is not possible to do anyway!

Coach Char

Guiding You to Grow Your Legacy

http://www.nextinlifecoaching.com