Is there an afterlife?
The only people who are 100% sure of the answer to that question are the very religious and the atheists. And they differ in opinion. The rest of us, what I will call the middle 70%, honestly don’t know. Maybe we believe there is life afterlife, but have doubts. Or maybe we just hope that it exists. In our hearts, for multiple reasons, I think we all want to believe that there is one.
But is there really life after death?
When Albert Einstein, who was a believer in God by the way, was asked if he thought there was an afterlife, he responded by saying that he believed that, ‘one life was enough,’ essentially saying…no. Stephan Hawking, the genius theoretical physicist and cosmologist, recently called life after death a ‘fairy story’ for people afraid of dying.
I know this challenges religious beliefs. And I know that is a weird road to walk down. But, if so few of us are certain of that answer…shouldn’t it be at least a conversation?
I honestly don’t know the answer. Einstein was a genius, but I don’t entirely trust him on the subject either. How the hell would he know, really? Maybe there is. He couldn’t grasp the concept of black holes and that was in his field. Why would he be an expert on this? Hawking too.
But I want to ask you this…what if, when you die, you just die? There is nothing beyond the grave. The soul isn’t different than the brain. When the brain dies, your body dies, and your ‘soul’ dies with it. What if there is no afterlife?
For everyone who has lost a loved one…especially one recently or one that died suddenly or before their time, I understand that this isn’t a great thought. Turn this off. I’m not that bright anyway. Forget about me. And this stupid blog. My goal here isn’t to make you feel badly about that.
The point here, is to think about what you would you do if you were 100% sure there was no afterlife? So, go with it for a second…there is no afterlife. Pretend that proof emerges that tells us there is no life after death. Would you kick more puppies? Would you steal more? Cheat more? Do anything you wanted as long as you didn’t get caught by the law, because no one’s watching?
What would you do? Don’t have a great answer?
Take your age and subtract your age from 85. This is the number of years you have left…that’s it. I know many people live well into their nineties…you can’t bank on your body and/or mind being able and sharp after that age. You have X amount of years left, and there’s no afterlife. Your clock is ticking.
This isn’t a message about spending all your money today, having sex with everything that moves today, drinking yourself into oblivion today. Instant gratification isn’t always the wrong move, but most likely you have a lot more time than a month. You have a lot more years left to live.
But not forever. What are you going to do with your remaining time here in this life?
The answer is simple. Carve out the most fulfilling life that you can imagine for yourself. From now until then.
Are you doing that? If not, what else are you doing?
If this is all there is, are you living the life you always wanted, in the place you want, in the job you want, with the people you want to be with? If this is it, and you’re not, what are you waiting for?