Life and death are often mentioned in the same breath. How can you view this and use it to enrich your life and work? How can you grow into a person and professional who lives and works with greater satisfaction and positive energy, and where your talents truly come into their own?
Here is a perspective...
Death is nothing more than the destruction of a form. Birth is nothing more than the emergence of a form. Both are part of the timeless cycle of creation.
But what, then, is life? What do we work and live for, and what is its meaning?
If you view life linearly, it has only a beginning and an end point: ‘that’s it’. Life would then simply be over—or shattered—in an instant. But is that really the case?
If you view life cyclically, it is an infinite flow that constantly changes form—like the ebb and flow of the tides, the seasons, or the birth and death of a day. From a linear perspective, life ends definitively with the destruction of the form: the death of a leaf on a tree, of a day when the sun sets, or of the body when you die.
Yet that is a limited perspective—comparable to the old idea that the Earth was flat. That image provided a useful frame of reference for topography and travel at the time, but it was only part of the truth. It was only when our perception expanded that we discovered the Earth is round: the flat Earth turned out to be a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional reality.
It is the same with life. Beyond linear thinking, life is something cyclical that constantly returns in a different form. Most of us, with our limited perception, cannot yet see this—but that does not mean it does not exist.
If you take this line of reasoning further, the same applies to the body as to the flat earth: it is a temporary, three-dimensional projection from a higher dimension that exists beyond time and space. Upon death, this form is cast off, and life—divested of the body—simply continues. It is possible that each dimension is, in turn, a projection from an even higher dimension, extending infinitely. In any case, it is heartening that science and human consciousness are capable of perceiving ever more, allowing our perspective to keep expanding. And above all: life simply goes on, albeit in a different form.
The death of a form creates new space and experiences from which to learn through newly born forms. Sometimes, we let go of the old to give ourselves the chance to experience or create something new—whether it involves a thought, a belief, a job, a project, a day, a year, a friend, or a family member. So: thank you, death… and birth…
Death certainly does not mean the end of life. How hopeful that is! You are not ‘finished’ when you die—in fact, life has always existed: before your birth, after your birth, and after your death. It has never gone away.
This raises the question: where, or for what purpose, do you live and work? Or perhaps more accurately: *how* do you live and work, right now?
I am convinced that life here is simply a temporary school—a place of painful, traumatic, and joyful experiences intended for the growth of the soul. Our body is merely a temporary vehicle for gaining earthly experiences and learning from them as human beings and as souls.
From the cradle to the grave, we gain deeply felt experiences in work and life that can teach us to become better people. Alternatively, we may fail to learn from them, stagnate in our development, or even become worse people. You reap what you sow.
The beauty of it is that an infinite life gives us the chance to realize this, time and again. Every year, every day, every hour, and every minute offers an opportunity to grow in *how* you live and work—allowing you to give shape to your talents with greater contentment, positive energy and inner peace.
Do you want to discover how to make your work and life more meaningful, and what might be holding you back?
Then take a look at this book: Spirited Personal Leadership
To life!
Martin
