Everything dies.

Have you ever touched death? I mean really touched it, been close enough to call it a companion?

There was a period in my late twenties when I felt like the angel of death. I was surrounded by it everyday and it didn’t matter how hard I worked, if I was called to a CODE, the patient would die. One, after another, after another, after another.

I was stuck in an endless dance with the Grim Reaper.

I remember my lowest point of those long weeks. I was doing CPR on someone, and for a second, time seemed to stand still. I looked at the woman’s face and knew I had lost another. I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

I suppose that’s part of why it is such a difficult thing for us. Death is inevitable, we may delay it and buy more time, but ultimately it is out of our control.

As the months drew on, my curse was lifted and I was finally able to look at the life cycle for what it is. It may sound strange but being surrounded by so much death gave me the ability to face life head on, fully understanding all that it is.

Death is a part of life. All things die so new things can live.

People, jobs, relationships … they all end at some point. Parents pass so their children may inherit, we leave one job for another, and relationships, as painful as it may be, sometimes they die so you can experience new and better ones.

Death is often a terrible and painful part of life, but it also has much to teach us – if we are inclined to pay attention.

Image by Thomas Wolter from Pixabay