Drawn To Life & Death?
Do you focus on the life and death of it all? Are beginnings and ends a theme that run through your life? If so, take this Way for a test run and see how well it describes you.
Approaches To Life
If you follow the Way of Life and Death, one or both of these issues are a major life theme for you. So you may look at the world through the lens of life and death, and make decisions based on these two issues. That could mean that you take a life affirming stance and are constantly on the lookout for ideas, products and lifestyles that enhance and prolong life. Or you could focus on things from the perspective of trying to stop the aging process and avoid death.
Life Values
Values show us what we feel is important in life -- and often are at the heart of our favorite conversations and our reason for volunteering.
- Topics of Conversation - You may love to talk, listen to and read about life and death issues -- such as the value of human life or the right to die with dignity. Not just the length, but the quality of life may be a major touchstone for you. You could be the one who scans the obituary page and hones in on conversations that involve life affirming and death defying subjects.
- Volunteer Opportunities - You may be active in the right to life issue, work to save endangered species or lobby in opposition of the death penalty.
- Celebrations & Holidays - You could be the one who celebrates new arrivals by knitting booties or faithfully remembers and celebrates birthdays. Or you could be the one who is there through all the tough last stages of life, helping everyone to cope with the emotional, financial and physical issues.
Both Easter and Halloween, along with the solstices and the Day of the Dead (Hispanic cultures celebrate this holiday), may be big times for you with their themes of rebirth and death. - Decision Making - Since our values weigh in heavily when making choices, you may be the one making life and death decisions everyday -- or use theses two opposites as your personal measuring stick for judging what is good and what is bad.
Life Lessons
If you are following the Way of Life and Death, many of the lessons life will throw at you involve figuring out the meaning of life and learning what makes life precious and sacred.
- Life Affirming Experiences - On the positive side, this could be having life affirming experiences that bring clarity, wisdom and a deep awareness of what it means to be truly alive.
- Wake Up Calls - Or it could involve wake up calls for yourself or those close to you to motivate you to take the time to understand what life is all about and the role death, disease and destruction play.
Life Occupations
You could feel called to work at either end of the life cycle ... with newborns, those facing the end of their life ... or anyone who is trying to start life anew. So the occupations that appeal to you could come from any of the life paths. Here are a few examples ...
- Life path 1 - You could be pioneering life saving drugs or mapping the human genome to understand the intricacies of what defines a life form.
- Life path 2 - You could be a prenatal nurse, a nanny, a life coach or work on developing new plant hybrids. Anything that involves nurturing new life or assisting and counseling others through Life Stage 1 or Life Stage 8: Death and Transition.
- Life path 3 - You could be creating works of art or literature that help people connect more fully with the meaning and nuances of life and death. Or you could focus on a performing art that caters to those dealing with life, birth, death and major life transitions.
- Life path 4 - You could be involved with designing, building and testing products that help sustain and nurture life, prolong it, or address the needs of the dying and deceased. From working in a birthing center, being an undertaker, or testing automobile safety features --- your work deals with the practicalities of life and death.
- Life path 5 - You could be intimately involved with preserving and protecting life, such as a fireman, paramedic, or soldier. But whether you work in emergencies services, social services or the military, the emphasis is on life and death issues.
- Life path 6 - Healers deal directly with life and the causes or disease and death on a daily basis. So you could be drawn to working as a midwife, nurse, shaman, or surgeon. As a teacher, you might focus on teaching literature or biology -- or just have an outlook that sees things in terms of beginnings and endings.
- Life path 7 - These occupations include doing ground breaking research on life saving technologies or investigating the origins of life on this planet and in the universe.
- Life path 8 - You might be drawn to starting or running a company that deals with the aging process, such as running a hospice or cancer retreat center.
- Life path 9 - You could be drawn to becoming a mentor to new parents or a guide for those facing major life transitions or needing help during a life crisis. Or you might take on a role as someone who works to nurture and support life on a global scale -- such as working to save the planets endangered species or dwindling rain forests.
Favorite Books, Movies & TV Shows
Much of the world's greatest literature deals with what it means to be truly alive and how to face death with courage and compassion.
- TV Shows - Many shows on TV revolve around life and death issues -- from murder scenes in crime shows to popular medical dramas. Recent shows include Survivor and 24 Hours, which followed the cascade of critical life and death decisions made by one man and the impact on everyone around him. House is a medical show where each episode has a patient facing certain death unless the doctors can unravel the secrets of the disease killing him or her.
- Movies - The Notebook and The Fountain are two recent popular films that traces the life story of two lovers and how they face the end of their lives together. In Lorenzo's Oil, two parents struggle to find a cure for their terminally ill son.
- Books - There are numerous books on the origins of the Universe, as well as life on this planet. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows dealt heavily with wizards focused on learning how to cheat death, as does any book that focuses on obtaining the Philosopher's Stone.
What's Next
If you are interested in learning more, check out my book The Way of Life & Death. In addition to more in depth information about values, life lessons and occupations -- I also cover the critical tasks and challenges you face if you follow this way.
You might be interested in reading my inspirational quotes about life, and seeing if these resonate with you.