I am okay with death.

I'm taking this Humanities class on Death where we survey through different cultural perspectives on death and consequently life. How you view death will influence the way you live your life. I realize through my responses in class that I am coming from a totally different place than most. 

Most are looking for justification and promise of something more. They want THE ANSWERS to why we die, what happens after we die, how do we live to ensure a good afterlife, etc... When I hear people's questions and comments, it's interesting how difficult it is to find peace in not knowing, and also how people want answers so bad that they accept unprovable explanations. How they seem to be able to ignore the fact that they are actually completely active in what they accept as truth. No, they just believe it to be true for all, as if they had no bias. How they are actually just satisfying their fears.

I am okay with death because I am okay with just having this life, this opportunity. My own death is trivial compared to my life. I will live and learn, and when I die, that will be it. I will cease to exist. There will be no great meaning. This idea doesn't depress me like it might or should. I think it's because there is so much in my existence here and now, and I understand that this is just the truth of the world. Things come to be and they pass. I am no different. I understand my place in the grander scheme of things. Also, why stress over the unexplainable, the unpredictable, and a momentary transition.

We went over brain death, and The Phaedo by Plato, and I find that all the meaning and purpose lies in consciousness for me. If I am not conscious, but my heart is still beating, please let me die. In The Phaedo, what Plato calls the soul is what I call consciousness. One day, I will die, I will not have my identity, my consciousness. Rico will no longer exist. I'm okay with that because I won't even be aware of it. I worry more for the living that will have to endure life without me. They will be the ones suffering, not me. So this is for them. My last words will have the undertone of: It's okay. I've lived my life. Celebrate the good memories we shared and DO NOT mourn my death. Let me live on in you and your memory forever. I can never fully be extinguished because I have had an influence on you that will continue on long after I die. Please do not degrade my life by saying I could've done so much more. I was so young. If I die today, I feel I have lived a full lifetime already. I have shared and experienced love and that's all that really matters.