A Matter of Life and Death
by Vincent Ryan Ong

Death. It is the only other thing aside from life that human beings have in common with one another. Surprisingly, this common denominator is not a celebrated one. Life, on the other hand, is widely acknowledged, highly sought of, and valued more than anything else. For obvious reasons, death is undesirable. For a time, research was conducted hoping to eliminate this phenomenon forever only to prove what is already known. Death is the end of a being's journey through life. Everything that began has to end.

An end is something that everyone understands. The main reason why death does not appeal very much to people is its timeliness, or its lack thereof. There are but a handful of individuals who were ready when their life expired. The irony of ironies though is that death only happens for a fraction of a second. It is the bridge that connects life and the absence of life. Humanity has forever been terrified with this single event whereas the more terrifying thing is going through with life. A conservative mortality rate can be put to sixty years. In these sixty years, anything can happen to a person. This can range from a simple paper cut to a wide scale mutation via radiation.

Life is a ball of suffering bands; there's no way to untangle them. Individuals must take them two, three, four, or even more at a time. Towards the end of one's life, no one can really say if they have been happy for most part of their existence. The reality is that life wasn't meant to be surfed on tranquil waters. Death gives humanity relief from suffering. In the final analysis, one can say that death is the sweetest thing mankind can experience.

However, it is not being suggested that people should start ending their lives due to this. Indeed, one experiences hell on earth but the purpose of living is to be happy in the face of unavoidable suffering. Life is what one makes of it. The amount of happiness an individual experiences in a lifetime is entirely attributed to his or her actions and its consequences. If the amount is found to be lacking, only the self can be held accountable. Ending one's own life prematurely is irresponsible and not to mention a cowardly act. By traversing this route, one gives up free will and the responsibilities that comes hand-in-hand with it.

Life and death are two very different things, yet they are one. One cannot continue living without thinking of death. One does not die without having thought about life. That's what makes life so beautiful and death so sweet.

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The author is nearing his quarter-life crisis and has started thinking about life and death. He neither condones suicide nor the helpfulness of people who put other human beings out of their misery. For violent reactions and intellectual discussion, email him at vincent at beanbug dot net.