When I hear that someone has died, I instantly, without forethought, judge whether I think it is a good or bad way to go. I am sure that those of you who have had different experiences and even are at different ages have other ways of evaluating.
GOOD WAYS TO GO:
1. Never wake up in the morning. Many friends would prefer this.
2. The big one, heart attack, anywhere, any time.
3. Chose to go lie on a mountain top when you know your time has come. Our First People had a cool tradition of this.
4. Quietly slip away surrounded by friends and family softly chanting Kumbya (sp?).
5. On the morphine cloud. (I am not so sure about this, never having had morphine) I am not a believer in suffering when it can be avoided.
6. The rapture. I don't know anyone who has been raptured up, but it sounds like a plan. (not the James Jones cool aid idea).
BAD WAYS to GO:
1. Painful, nasty, slow death.
2. Getting shot or stabbed or assaulted.
3. Drowning, getting eaten by a shark, caught in the rapids...the whole spectrum.
4. Fire. Too scary to think about. Was thinking about the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials and dear, brave Joan of Arc. All horrific.
5. OK, this is freaking me out.
I think I have to focus on living well. Most likely I won't have a choice in the matter of my demise. My friends who have worked for Hospice swear that stopping eating is pretty painless, but having experienced a severe degree of starvation when I had the evil parasites and a minor degree in the village I lived in in El Salvador, I don't think I am a fan of that method.
Sorry for this post, but I have been hearing almost daily about a friend or acquaintance dying and I found myself rating their manner of going against what I think I could bear. I know the mysteries of karma play into this. I also know that I think about aesthetics. They are important to me. Maybe in the end, none of our preferences matter at all.
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