I was listening to a podcast about near death experiences with Dr. Bruce Greyson, who had the following to say about overcoming the fear of living…

“When you lose your fear of dying, you also lose your fear of living to the fullest because you’re not afraid of taking risks and losing something, nor are you afraid of what comes next… You’re part of something much greater than yourself, which means that the problems that exist with this bag of skin is not all that important because there is a lot more going on. You tend to see your problems, not as something to escape from, but something to struggle with, learn and grow. And this provides us with a sense of meaning and purpose.”

This resonated with me because it seems that most of us are scared of dying, which shows through in our inability to make the necessary changes in our life so that we can live it to the fullest.

It also reminded me of the quote that is attributed to Steve Jobs…

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encounter to help me make the big choices in life.

Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

The common thread between these two quotes talking about death is that we should live life to the fullest. If your heart is tempted, there will never be a perfect reason not to follow it, and chances are if it was tempted, the life you’re afraid to leave is already killing you. So if the life you lead isn’t serving you, don’t hesitate to follow your heart. There isn’t anything to lose because in the end we all share the same inevitable destination. 

Yes, I understand it is easier said than done, but awareness is the first domino to fall.