Think for a moment about all the generations that preceded you in life.
They each had their respective moments in the sun; their hopes, dreams, perhaps even schemes.
Every individual had aspirations of one sort or another, some more humble and others more flamboyant than the rest.
Perhaps they attained what they reached for with great difficulty, or else they were born into wealth and prosperity and never knew want.
Maybe life never seemed to offer them much reward for hard efforts expended, other than more work, less joy, more pain, grief or heartache than most.
Or like so many, they fit somewhere in the vast middle ground between the two enduring extremes of wealth, power and prestige on the one hand, and the seeming insignificance of grinding, infuriating powerlessness and poverty on the other.
Yet when their day was over, and the days of their life ended, however it came to be, they now share the same commonality of cessation from all activity we call death.
No thoughts, deeds, feelings, passions, concerns or pains remain in the grave, where all eventually retire from this life.
This is just as true for us now, today, as it ever was for all those generations before us.
You will experience it when your time is past, after which -- most assume, but cannot prove -- another life awaits.
Or does it?
Have you ever thought to ask why?
Or even if what you and most others think to be true of the so-called "afterlife" really is?
If not, what is the truth of the matter, and what can or should you do about it?
Everything Is Temporary!
A wiser man than you or I long ago wrote about what is perhaps the quintessential quality of existence as it then was, and as we still know it today:
"Anyone who is among the living has hope -- even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward [in this lifetime], and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun [until the resurrection]" (Ecclesiastes 9:4-6).
Knowing this, what should you do?
What is your best course of action, in light of your mortality?
As the wise man added:
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom" (verse 10).
Finally, he concluded:
"Everything to come is temporary. Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
"Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things the Almighty One will bring you to judgment.
"So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are temporary. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth...here is the conclusion of the matter:
"Fear the Almighty One and keep His commandments, for this is the entire duty of man. For the Almighty One will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 11:8-10, 12:1, 13-14).
Judgment does indeed start for many in this lifetime, with ill health, disease and infirmity.
It doesn't have to be that way, if you are truly wise, and not merely "wise" in your own eyes!
Changing Your Lifestyle Can Change Your Lifespan
Health, good or bad, is largely a matter of free will and personal choice.
Most allow family traditions or eating habits to determine for them the kind of health they will enjoy or regret, for the rest of their lives.
However, if you find your health is lacking in some serious regard -- as this author at one point did, as a young man -- you can always alter it by making strategic changes in your diet.
Cutting out bad or deficient dietary choices, in favor of those that are healthier for you, can add years and vitality to your life.
Why grow old (or not), minus the use of your physical and/or mental faculties, dependent on others for your daily needs, or even worse on medical interventions that never truly heal, or which introduce more or worse health problems and suffering, along with their alleged "cures" or solutions?
Why wear yourself out exercising to exhaustion, or starving yourself for some whim or fad diet, when all you really need is moderation, cyclical regularity, and better, healthier choices in cuisine?
What would some of those be?
The advice of a man who was nearly 50 years of age when this author was born, and is still alive today (over 111 years of age), who still maintains all of his senses and faculties in good working order, gained from his father (who was a doctor of the old school), who lived to be 98, might provide some answers.
These recommendations parallel my own personal discoveries over the past half century:
Avoid fatty, fried "foods," most processed, fast or similar dietary choices, and red meats. Also avoid all drugs, or drug-like addictive substances (including those of a "recreational" character, such as smoking, drinking -- social or heavy -- or the kind that are inhaled, snorted or absorbed through the skin).
Consume plenty of raw, organic vegetables, preferably those that are green and leafy, and a good variety of fruits daily, while avoiding processed or artificial, substitute sugars of all kinds, and any "foods" or "snacks" containing these, or other adulterants (such as MSG, chemical/artificial "vitamin fortification," preservatives of every kind, artificial/chemical "food" colorings, etc.).
And use the following five foods regularly: extra virgin olive oil (not the kind mixed with other vegetable oils not listed on the label, sold in most grocery stores and falsely labeled "extra virgin olive oil"), honey, cinnamon, garlic, and chocolate (raw, low heat processed cacao powder and butter; not high heat processed "milk" or sugared chocolate).
Additional Healthy Choices
To this list I have added low heat processed coconut oil and either fresh ground flax seed, or flax oil, apricot pits, apple seeds, and other foods containing vitamin B-17 (amygdalin), and healthy spices including: turmeric, cayenne pepper, ginger, paprika, and sage.
A concoction of spices that makes an excellent addition to your diet is curry, a combination of turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, fennel, chilies, cumin, cloves, black pepper, onion, and garlic (be careful to avoid anything containing monosodium glutamate, which can also be hidden under the phrases "natural flavorings," such as in "salt-free" and similar unhealthy concoctions).
The fresher, or home grown, for most of these the better, thereby avoiding also the harmful radiation exposure or other unnatural, harmful "preservative" treatments to which most store-bought spices and condiments are now routinely subjected.
Another staple dietary seasoning addition is a good naturally processed sea salt -- containing all the trace elements you require -- used in moderation, to replace all other salt in your diet, rather than chloride containing (adulterated) table salt, and even various sea weeds which contain needed iodide and other similar healthy trace elements.
Adding a good variety of nuts, seeds, legumes, lentils, and whole grain (unpolished) brown rice, along with non-genetically tampered with organic produce, are essentials for good health.
And don't forget home-grown seed sprouts, which add vital missing enzymes needed for proper digestion of other, cooked foods, if consumed first at every evening meal, which are a vital dietary necessity.
Finally, free-range farm fresh eggs, along with non-homogenized, raw (not pasteurized) milk and cheeses are necessary for a well-rounded, healthy, invigorating diet.
These twelve wise dietary choices, instead of the common diet fare most indulge in to their great regret these days, can do much to prolong both the days and the quality of your life, barring accidental injuries or needless, debilitating, deforming, disastrous medical interventions.
Avoiding All Contaminants
This author made drastic changes in diet which his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives did not, with the result that -- so far -- he has outlived most of them, who have succumbed to cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and various other infirmities, usually much younger than they otherwise would have.
Other healthy lifestyle choices are getting outside in the fresh air and sunshine as often as possible, without sun screen or similar chemical concoctions, using only water and occasionally simple soap made from coconut oil, and natural shampoos, while avoiding the ritual of using soap to strip off the outer healthy colostrum-containing layer of skin that produces hormone ("vitamin") D, to be absorbed through the skin, which helps maintain an effective and vital immune system.
Remember, in modern corrupt-speak, so-called "enriched" or "preserved" means utterly adulterated.
Consider such "food" choices, including almost all "snack," "fast," "fat free" or "low fat" supposed "foods," and almost all fruit or carbonated beverages, as each being slow poisons that will steadily rob you of good health, vitality and the full use of all your faculties as you inevitably advance in age.
Learn to think independently of the scare-monger misled masses, avoiding all forms of contaminants in your body, including vaccinations, "flu" shots, and most (actually all) prescription and over-the-counter medications.
None of these will actually help prevent, and most will even cause, ill health (usually the very ailments they are loudly, persistently and alarmingly touted as "preventing" or "curing")!
While some emergency medical interventions may be necessary, to mend cuts, abrasions, broken bones, and the like, most are extremely harmful, and some even deadly "health" choices, and many are those who have fallen victim to their own fears, especially when misled by a supposed health "expert" by the title of "doctor," to their ultimate hurt and harm.
Your Choice Is A Life Or Death Decision!
Yes, death after life is an ultimately inescapable fact of existence, and one you cannot avoid.
How soon, and in what condition, you approach that inevitable milestone all depends on how wisely you choose to live your life now, especially in relation to your daily dietary choices.
As another very wise man once wrote:
"...I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..." (Deuteronomy 30:19).
And lest you forget or neglect the most important wisdom, to prolong life and grant quality and blessings all the days of your life, as Moses added:
"...and that you may care for Yahveh your Almighty One, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For Yahveh is your life...." (verse 20).
Far too many today are failing to fulfill these blessings in their own lives, simply because they have turned away from and neglected this most basic, fundamental religious foundation, in their largely materialistic and carnal lives.