Gazing Past Death



Miura Bull--Death on 4 Legs



One day, we all must face our own mortality and look ultimately into the blank space which lies beyond death. Whether you believe in an after-life, a God, a saint, or something else, you know that your days here are numbered, and no amount of praying or hoping will alter that number. The problem is: You don't know what day that will be, so you must live as though this hour, this day, may be your very last.

What if you had to confront that possibility today? Imagine at this instant that you are not yourself but rather a bullfighter, not just an average matador but a fearless one--a Belmonte or a Manolete. You walk into the arena with your picadors and your horse, your bandarillos. From across the arena, a large wooden door flies open and a gigantic animal with fire in his eyes and horns on his head comes charging toward you. Right now, this instant, and not a second later or tomorrow, you will confront your own possible demise. What makes you able to stand your ground? What gives you the strength and the strange nobility to look into death's eyes and dance with it?

Only a Manolete or Belmonte would be able to answer these questions, but we can learn something enormously important from what they did with their lives. Their actions--brave, noble, and powerful--stand as living testimonies to the strength of the human mind and soul against death. If you can take your very soul into your hands and confront whatever you fear most in this life, you can overcome it. You may not be able to defeat death (though you might be able to cheat him a time or two), but you can face him like a man. You can stare him down. You can stand your ground.

There is no such thing as a free and easy ride in this life. Sickness can drop on you like a ballpeen hammer and crush your skull, your soul, and your heart in one swift blow. Will anyone come to take your place at that hour? Hardly. The trick is to be ready for whatever comes, to accept it, face it, and gaze past it to what comes next.