getting too old

I think my thinking is seriously getting too old. I'm not even past the halfway mark of my life- or maybe I have already but I don't know - and I am already thinking about death. For the second time in the life, I questioned death right in the face. And to great disbelief of many, the first real time when I thought of death was when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Given my limited experience of life at that age, the only question that popped up in my mind was this, 'What will happen to me when mummy's gone?'

I can still vaguely remember that time, when I thought for a split second, and then the next moment, crying whilst holding onto my mother's leg tightly.

After 18 years of my life, this question came back to me unexpectedly. Perhaps because I saw a sad fact of life; that many people are wasting away their lives, either by living in their own fantasies, or just plain slacking. Then I saw the irony. On the other side of the globe, not literally, there seemed to be people, who were aggressively trying to achieve their goals/dreams. Interestingly, both groups of people share a similar trait. They didn't seem to have the thought of death on their minds.

To the people who were/are wasting their lives away, do they realise the short period of time they have on this planet? And to the people who fight for their dreams, do they ever consider that at the journey's end, everything they had fought for would come to naught? Their faces do not even show a tint of 'death will eventually come my way and why am I still doing this?'

At the end of life's journey, will I still be able to remember whatever I have done/achieved? Perhaps. So, do I give up on achieving whatever I want? No.

I figured that it all boiled down to the experiences we gain when we undertake something. And, things not worth doing are those that do not give you the maximum enjoyment. With experiences we gain along the way, and while we may not be able to still know of whatever we had done during our life on Earth, its glad knowing that I made it fruitful. And perhaps, with the experiences we gain, we might just be able to impact upon another person's life.

Striving and achieving greatness is not an act for oneself. While it certainly enriches us, it cannot be achieved with the mentality of doing it for myself. The reason for our existence on Earth is to make this place better for the people around us and the next person that is going to replace my place in this world. And thus, achieving greatness is not for oneself, but for the betterment of the lives of others around.