We must live a lie

I didn’t know actress Natasha Richardson. I could not even put a face to the name when I first read the news of her death. But still her death in a freak ski accident made me sad and for a few seconds left me speechless. It made me think- if she can die then who is safe? After all these Hollywood types lead a charmed life- don’t they? They have the best medical care, safest homes and as an actress who does mostly character roles she never really did any dangerous stunts. How could she die just skiing with her family? It was the same basket of emotions that had been stirred up by the death of Princess Diana, Heath Ledger and even Rajeev Gandhi.

These were people who filled our newspapers and television sets. These are the kind of people about who you make conversation over “Chai Tea”. They have ideas for the future, they win awards and fight for causes. So how can fate just whiz them suddenly, violently? If it can happen to them then what is to insulate the rest of us who lead just ordinary inconsequential lives?

But then death is the ultimate equalizer. She shows no partiality for the rich and the famous and as most religions around the world say- if your time is up, your time is up. You gotta go if it is time to go. How, when, where- no one can know that.

So what does that leave us mere mortals with? Are we born only to live each moment with the knowledge that as life progresses it is only to bring us one step closer to death? Maybe the answer is in the focus. We have the choice to live each day and each moment to the fullest. To not focus on the trivial things in life and just let by gones be by gones and live each day as if it is our last because all said and done it could be.

Somewhere deep down all of us know that truth about death. And yet, that is the one thing that none of us want to acknowledge. And there in lies the biggest paradox of human happiness. As human beings we must learn to ignore the biggest truth of our lives if we are to truly live the life that we have. Otherwise we will all have lived a life but just waiting for death.