The Conscious Parent

will evade us. Until we come to terms with our mortality, we clutter our
life with noise and drama, which heighten our sense of being “alive.” We
control our children, fight with our spouse, and create unpleasant
situations in our place of work for the same reason. Through the throb of
activity, we assure ourselves we are “alive.” Without all of this activity,
we would be terrified that we would not only have nothing, but be
nothing. Entering the void is our greatest fear.
This fear is compounded when we hold a belief that life and death are
two ends of a linear spectrum. Such a perspective generates anxiety,
accompanied by the feeling we must rush through life at all costs.
However, if we embrace the perspective that life and death are just
points on a continuum, we can allow our maniacal attachment to “this”
identity, “this” life, “this” role to be subsumed within the understanding
that life continues. As a result, we loosen our grip on our egoic state and
allow ourselves to glimpse our true being.
No matter that we try to hide from the reality of our mortality, we all
know that life is tenuous and extremely fragile. We live with this
understanding despite our attempts at denial. Even though to truly
confront what this means is harrowing, wouldn’t we be better to be real
with ourselves? Embracing the tenuous, moment-by-moment nature of
our existence is ultimately empowering. Instead of warding off this
realization by creating emotional drama, we are wise to simply sit with
life’s as is quality.
Fear of death keeps us attached to the ego, so that our sense of “I” is
that of an isolated monad. In contrast, once we accept the impermanence
of life, we awaken to its total connectedness and everyday wonder. This