Death as Your Advisor

“. . . use death as your advisor” – don Juan

Strong and unusual words.  I just love this thought.  It’s loaded with power and knocks your socks off when you first hear it.  The power of this statement lies in the simplicity and conciseness of the message.  That, and that it deals up-front with our undeniable death. 

A lot of people are afraid to address their death, or even consider it.  While they know it’s coming, they won’t openly contemplate this inevitable conclusion.  They’re running scared, leaking energy, and minimizing their personal power.

A Warrior always seeks to maximize their personal power.  They expect the best, don’t make excuses, and assume responsibility for everything in their life.  They consciously create life the way they want.  By embracing your inevitable death, you start doing what you want, appreciate your daily events, traveling when and where you want, live in the house you want, and enjoy the relationships/friends/mates you want.  Create your life any way you want.  It’s all up to you.

What does it mean to use death as your advisor?  How can death be your advisor?  What’s to be gained by doing this?

Using death as your advisor is a way to maintain and maximize your focus.  A lot of us live our daily lives and assume tomorrow will be pretty much the same as today.  We expect a certain degree of continuity in our lives.  By using death as your advisor, this helps you maintain your focus and realize you don’t have control over much of anything. 

You can’t control the events of tomorrow, or even assure that you will be alive tomorrow.  Since you can’t control these events, use this uncertainty to your advantage.  With death as your advisor, it assists you in doing what’s important today and not procrastinating.  Move toward your vision/goal.  Let those you love know it.  There is no guarantee that tomorrow will come at all.  Or that your life will be the same.

We get soft and complacent in assuming that there will always be tomorrow, and it will be much the same as today.  Some of the details may change, but overall it we expect it to be almost a carbon copy of today.  This attitude robs you of your ability to be aware and savor the uniqueness of today.  It’s all fresh.  This moment has never happened before, and won’t ever happen again.  Focus on this moment, take it all in, and give thanks for all it offers.  Practice being in the moment.  Begin to focus on the wondrous mysteries that occur around us every day.  Most of us don’t even realize or notice these phenomenal events.

As stated before, the secret to a harmonious and happy life is to maintain balance.  If you get too involved in the “doing” extreme, you will be constantly taking action and try to complete three days worth of activities in a single day.  This isn’t living as a warrior.  This is running scared. 

Find your center and maintain balance.  Take the time to truly enjoy and appreciate the beauty and wonder around you.  The other extreme is to procrastinate and assume you can do today’s events tomorrow.  This is the act of indulging and often leads to slothfulness.  Both extremes are out of balance and are the result of fear.

Seek balance and do what needs to be done today.  Do everything with joy and appreciation.   Your life will be a constant source of growing, joy, exploration, and appreciation of the wondrous world about you. 

Don’t fall into the habit of assuming you have all the answers to life’s mysteries and you’ve seen it all before.  Be humble and look with new eyes.  Listen with new ears.  Always remember that death is stalking you.  It is inevitable, but not something to be feared or dreaded.  Death is a constant advisor, it’s not your adversary.  It’s helping you maintain focus, stay sharp, live in the moment, and give thanks for what you have.  When used as a positive, death is your advisor and ally.

The truly happy people I know live this way moment by moment.  Admittedly, they are few in number.  They never forget that death is stalking them and they don’t know when it will arrive.  This helps them live in the moment, give thanks for what they do have, cherish and appreciate their relationships, and maintain their awareness for messages from God/Creator/Source.  They are also aware of the beauty and mystery of this wonderful life.  They accept and relish it all – their hearts are open and they live in a constant state of gratitude and blessing.