Meditate On Our Common Mortality – The Law Of Death. (Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene)

We avoid thinking about death, but we shouldn’t. Whether we admit it or not, life is short and this gives us a sense of purpose. Confronting mortality helps us the inevitable obstacles of life. Mortality is what connects us even to the people we don’t like.

Death gives us fear and awkwardness. Just thinking about it makes us miserable because death implies pain, separation from the people we love, and uncertainty. The moment we understand we’re going to die, this gives us anxiety, the kind of anxiety that we can’t deny and never goes away. Repressing this anxiety only worsens it. Whatever you do, don’t look for cheap entertainment, don’t get addicted to things, and don’t sit comfortably in your comfort zone. Death is about eternal stillment. Life is about movement and connecting to others. By repressing the very idea of death, you can be alive but deathlike. Confronting death, on the other hand, is the thing that makes you feel alive.

The author shares five strategies to achieve this:

Make the awareness visceral: It’s easy to live distracted and looking inward, thinking about death heightens our senses and emotions. To do this safely, meditate on your death.
Awaken to the shortness of life: When we don’t think about death, we naturally assume we have more time. Thinking about mortality gives us the energy to concentrate and do great things. Use the shortness of life as a way to clarify your actions, habits, and goals. With this in mind, commit fully to the things that matter to you.
See the mortality in everyone: Regardless of who you are and what you have, you’ll die eventually. Seeing everyone as vulnerable gives you empathy.
Embrace pain and diversity: Some things in life, we can’t control. Accept everything that happens even if it’s painful. This is an excuse to find new opportunities and get stronger.
Open the mind to the sublime: It’s hard to describe what dying is because it’s a mystery. We can learn a lot of things, but death is unknowable. Confronting things we can’t put into words is the sublime. The sublime gives us awe, wonder, and fear. Death is the ultimate example of this, but it shows in the vastness of space too, for example.
Becoming aware of our mortality gives us ultimate freedom. You’ll be able to take more risks because as harsh as the consequences of doing something might be, they won’t be as irreversible as death.