The Dalai Lama once said that what surprised him the most about the human condition was that "Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Confronting our mortality is anathema in our western culture. We don't talk about it and when a loved one passes we are expected to "get over it" and function again as soon as possible.
Cultural icons are expected to stay forever young. The dying are outsourced to hospitals and hospices and the dead are buried in well-manicured cemeteries far-off the beaten track.
Confronting mortality head-on
One of the multiple reasons for our mental health crisis and addiction epidemic is that we don't confront our mortality head-on, compare ourselves with the Jones' next door, and hope to live the "happy" life one day when we retire, when we get rich, when we find the perfect partner when we have that luxury car or that beautiful home.
