Living Towards Death

The following content is sharing my reflections on "living towards death," hoping everyone can cherish each living day.

If you only had three days left to live, what would you want to do? Perhaps everyone's thoughts differ, but one thing is certain. When we directly face our own impending death, our hearts become incredibly clear, suddenly understanding what we want, what we care about, what to let go of. We experience an intensely real self, actually very close to the core experience of living towards death.

"Living towards death" is one of the core ideas proposed by German philosopher Martin Heidegger in his masterpiece "Being and Time." In the simplest terms, it means only when people clearly recognize death as everyone's inevitable ultimate destination can they break free from daily muddled states, truly focus on the most authentic, meaningful things in life, and live as their true selves. Heidegger believed most people's lives aren't based on their true will. Our lives often follow others' standards, societal inertia, not knowing what we truly want to become. This state Heidegger called "falling," and the way to break it is to actively and bravely face death in thought and attitude: Only by constantly aware that we will die one day can we orient towards authentic existence, no longer living others' scripts. This awakening brings true freedom, enabling clear, decisive choices for one's own life. For example, some always be anxious about others' evaluations, but thinking decades later everyone will die, these evaluations leave nothing, realizing no need to internalize others' words. Or some fear failure, dare not do what they like, dare not pursue who they like. But thinking we'll all die anyway, what if we fail? Instead, dare to take the first step. These are manifestations of living towards death.

In daily life, most feel very young – I'm only in my twenties, or teens, so death feels too distant, unwilling to think and face death itself. Always feel time is ample, always say later, in a while, when there's a chance. But actually, there aren't that many laters, not that many opportunities. We don't know when death comes. Living towards death lets you clearly see life's finish line, then completely awaken to how to live, instantly filtering out the most important, essential emotional connections in life. It's like a thought experiment, placing life's finish line clearly before you, letting you replan your current life.

That thing you wanted to do in the last three days but didn't – you can start doing it now. That person you first thought of – you can call or message them now. Life is a limited gift. Death's shadow isn't to devour us but to make life's light more focused, more dazzling. We don't need to count down days, but can make days worth counting. Living towards death, like periodically calibrating a compass, use it to calibrate life's direction, find the true self buried by daily routine.