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The Duties of Death

Today I was able to stop in and visit Tyler Seamons. We had a great chat and I left contemplating The Duties of Death. Essentially, accepting death helps us embrace life. Rebecca and Tyler have started doing everything they've always wanted to do as they've realized their time together is running out. There won't be many more tomorrows, and their "someday"(s) are limited. They are living completely in the now because now is all they have.

Want to know what I find interesting? We are no different than Tyler and Rebecca. Death is coming for each one of us too. In fact, we were born to die, and each day our death gets closer. The reality of mortality is such that we all will die and most of us won't get a warning. Most of us won't get the "heads up" that our time is almost up so that we can hurry up and start living. In this regard, Tyler and Rebecca are blessed. They get time to wrap things up. Close things down. Plan a funeral. Take family pictures. Do those things they've always wanted to do. Cancer is crappy, but like everything else, cancer isn't all bad. The upside of a terminal diagnosis is getting time to say good-bye.

But then again, we all have terminal diagnoses, don't we? You and I are both going to die. Death does not discriminate. It takes us all. Young, old, big, small, black, and white. We are all going to die. And this knowledge can help us really live.

Fortunately, I don't need to wait till I think I'm going to die to take the duties of death to heart. Like Tyler, I too have a terminal diagnosis. And I, like Tyler, am going to live today!

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