The meaning of the word immortal according to dictionary.com is [not mortal; not liable or subject to death; undying: our immortal souls]. Not liable or subject to death is a very staid way of saying you will live forever because you cannot die. The differences between not getting older and not dying are vast when one considers a few factors like how old are you when you achieve this immortality. What is your health like at that time?
I remember seeing a film many years ago – Tales From The Crypt – I believe it was called and in one tale, a person became “immortal” only after he had died and already been embalmed. When he came to life in his coffin, he was destined to spend eternity in terrifying and as I remember it, quite horrifying pain for eternity due to the caustic nature of the embalming fluid. Someone tried to put him out of his misery by hacking him with a sword…now he was destined to live into eternity in various pieces. If that character could have chosen mortality over immortality, the answer would have been obvious.
Immortality needs to come with a few conditions before someone should agree to it. Who among us has not thought about immortality at some point in their life? Most likely, when things are going well and you wish they would continue like that forever. The benefits of living forever, not aging at all, at first blush seem very enticing. The whole cheating death thing appeals too many who have a natural fear of dying. Being immortal would also give the recipient a chance to get things right since now they have all the time in the world to learn from mistakes.
The fascination with immortality and having the chance to gain additional time on this planet could have some advantages. What if this life is all there is? With all its pitfalls and perils, it is still not a bad gig when you consider the odds it took to get here. Living forever, being immortal is a good thing I suppose if we can choose the optimum age and physical condition we continue with into eternity. Eternal youth is something the majority of us strive for, elderly people remember it, middle age people try to recapture it and younger people far too often take it for granted.
If you were offered a chance for immortality, would you accept it? Many would not hesitate to accept an offer to live forever, personally, I would be cautious about who was offering it and what the catch was. It would be prudent to ask ourselves why we want to live forever. Nine times out of ten, the answer would be for egotistical motives. Those who took the time to give the offer sober second thought may have questions such as; will we be able to keep our looks? A no answer would kill the deal. Others would give thumbs up if they could take their loved ones along for the ride through eternity. Others may commit to the idea if they have the option to pull the pin on themselves if or when they feel the need. Perhaps they become bored outliving their peers, maybe the environment will not be very human friendly, world war, pestilence, global calamity – one might want an escape hatch if things were looking grim for humanity.
For the most part the motives would be selfish and self centered, and so they should be since taking on immortality is not for those with a feeble heart or weak mind. The challenges presented by immortality would require fortitude, mental strength, a sense of humor and a certain amount of chutzpah – not everyone would be up for the adventure. Some might believe that the yearning for immortality is simply an indication of how outwardly selfish they are. I disagree; the decision would require a definite measure of self preservation if for no other reason than it would be a long term decision.
Envision what it would be like to live forever – never growing any older and not worrying about dying. What would you do with yourself for the remainder of time? You will need a long term financial plan in order to sustain yourself and those you love along the way. There will be plenty of time to gain personal wealth and you will need it. Eventually, even making mountains of money will get boring. Becoming a humanitarian would be a possibility until we could no longer stand to see the transformation of human society as time moves past us and we have no impact on events. Our immortality offers no guarantee that we will make a difference on humanity as a whole.
The heartbreak of losing one love after another as we live on – our hearts desires’ continuing to succumb to old age or disease would be punishing. Losing those we love from our lives is tough enough in an ordinary timeline, living forever would mean multiple loves and multiple losses. How long before we simply gave up on that specific part of life that makes it so worthwhile to live. If you made the deal to bring your loved ones along with you, would they remain with you forever or even want to come along for the adventure? Ask those close to you if they would want to live forever and you might be surprised by the answers.
One common answer is they already have a date with life everlasting via the promise of eternal life from their high power, by whatever name and from whichever faith. This is yours truly’s belief and there are many more of us than you may believe exist. We have a spirituality that exists far beyond the question of immortality, we believe in the promise that was made to us so we stick with what we know and believe.
What makes immortality appealing to many is the promise of more time to fix what we cannot seem to get right in our current timeline. The gift of time is valuable, which is why many seek a longer life or wish for genuine immortality. It takes a broad minded soul to contemplate immortality and its repercussions rather than blindly accepting the offer, boldly moving forward, unprepared for the challenges that will be inevitable. There will be consequences that come with immortality and they will be around for all time and without end.
The truth is, most of us simply want to live longer than our anticipated departure date. We would like to live this extra time with some semblance of health and vitality. We have a desire to do something meaningful while we are here and to perhaps be celebrated for our time on earth. Achieving immortality for some of us may be a simple as gaining notoriety for some accomplishment we have attained. By leaving our mark for our peers, and to be revered for that would be enough for so many of us. We simply want to be remembered for something.
Living forever would be an extreme waste of time for the majority of average people. Someone with game changing potential like Einstein or maybe Ghandi, people who made an impact in their life might have been able to do even more good with some additional time or perhaps an eternity. Our life as it is today is precious only because it has an end date, we do not know what that expiration date is – which makes our life even more treasured. We have a finite amount of time to make an impact on our society so we need to do whatever we can to keep our health at an optimum level and to make the most of the time we have.
Whether we live for eighty years, eight hundred or eighty thousand, living with a purpose should be a priority for us all. If we want to attain immortality, we do not necessarily have to be here in the flesh to accomplish it. Most of us would be satisfied knowing we made a difference in our time here however long it might be. On the field of battle, men fall and gasp their last breaths struggling to speak their final words. It has been documented that the last words most often spoken by dying young men were calling out for their mothers, while others simply say “remember me.”
Thu, Feb 4, 2010
Anti Aging, Immortality, Longevity