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When we are young, death feels distant and vague, as though it belongs to someone else.
Yet in truth, it has always been near—we simply did not pay it much mind.

As the years pass and our experiences accumulate, death begins to take on shape and presence.
We watch our parents grow old, we lose people we love, friends fall ill or disappear from our lives, and our own bodies begin to show small signs of wear—one little part after another, failing or aching.

And slowly, almost calmly, death comes closer. It no longer hides in the distance. It stands ahead, waiting.

That is when we begin to ask ourselves: “Am I ready?”
Is one ever truly prepared for death?

“If tomorrow were my last day, would I feel regret?”
No one knows the day death arrives—coffins are not just for the old.

“What will I have left behind?”
Must we leave something behind at all?

But the most important question of all might be:

“If death is inevitable, how should I be living the time I have?”

Have you ever asked yourself this?

Death does not come to frighten us—it comes to awaken us.
It is not our enemy. It is simply the road that nearly all must walk.

Will every human being face death?
Honestly, I cannot say for certain. The world is vast—perhaps there are beings beyond our understanding.
But for most of us, death is a truth we will eventually meet.

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To face death is to look inward and reflect:

Are there apologies or thank-yous still left unsaid?
Are there dreams or promises long delayed?
Are there wounds or grudges we still cling to, though they should have been laid down?

Many people, near the end, do not say, “I’m afraid to die.”
What they say is: “I wish I had truly lived.”

So the question is not how to avoid death,
but how to keep living—even knowing it may come at any time.

I still want to eat a meal I love.
To trim my cat’s nails.
To race the dog.
To laugh with my friends.

That, to me, is courage:
To know the end is certain, and still choose to keep walking.
To keep smiling.

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Some think that facing death means letting everything go.
But I don’t believe it’s that simple.

Real preparation is not about detachment.
It’s about asking:
“When the time comes, will my heart be at peace?”

And please—don’t wait until the end to say:
“Can I still offer someone a little more love, a little more understanding, a little more kindness?”

These are not questions for our final moments.
They are ways of being we should carry, every single day.

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In the end, what we leave behind is rarely wealth, status, or accomplishments.
Sometimes, it is… nothing at all.

But death does not come to strip us of meaning.
It comes to witness us.

It is not our rival.
It is our silent witness—
watching how we lived,
how we loved,
and how, when the time came,
we learned to let go.

我們年輕的時候，總覺得死亡離我們很遠，很模糊，好像只是別人的事。
但其實，它一直都在，只是我們沒有特別去想。

隨著年紀慢慢上來、經歷多了，尤其是看到爸媽變老、摯愛離開，朋友也一個一個出事，甚至自己身體開始出現毛病——好像哪裡也壞一點、痛一點——死亡就這樣慢慢靠近了，變得真實、變得有點冷靜，好像它就在前方等著我們。

這時候我們才會開始問自己：

「我準備好了嗎？」[死往需要準備嗎????}
「如果明天就是最後一天，我會不甘心嗎？」[死亡那天來 沒人知道 棺材裝死人不是裝老人]
「我到底留下了什麼？」[真的要留下甚麼?]

還有一句最根本的問題是——
「如果死亡是肯定會發生的事，那我現在活著這段時間，到底要怎麼過？」

你有沒有問過自己這句話？

死亡其實不是來嚇我們的，它反而讓我們清醒。
它不是敵人，而是絕大多數人終究會走的一條路。

是不是「每個人」都會死？老實說我不敢說得那麼絕對，因為這世界大到我不知道會不會有什麼特殊的「存在」；但對大多數人來說，死亡就是我們每個人都得面對的課題。

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有沒有什麼話一直沒說出口，像道歉、像感謝？
有沒有一些夢想或承諾，一直放著沒做？
有沒有一些該放下卻還緊抓著的情緒、傷口、關係？

很多人在臨終時，最遺憾的不是「要死了」，而是——「怎麼都沒好好活過」。

所以，不是要每天提心吊膽地怕它來，而是明知道它可能隨時會來，我還是願意去吃喜歡的東西、幫我的貓剪指甲、跟狗賽跑、跟朋友說笑。

這就是勇敢：明明知道會結束，還是選擇繼續過下去，還是願意微笑。

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有些人以為面對死亡就是「放下」，但我不覺得那麼簡單。
真正的準備，是能夠坦然問自己：
「當我真的面對那一刻，我的心是平靜的嗎？」

還有——請不要等到最後才說「我還能不能多給別人一點愛、多一點理解、多一點善意？」
這些事，本來就應該是我們每天都在做的事情。

到最後，人留下來的，不是財產，也不是頭銜，
有時候，什麼都不會留下。

但死亡不是來拿走一切的敵人，
它只是我們這一生的見證人，
默默地看著我們怎麼活，怎麼愛，怎麼放下。