Do you think death is a monster?

Being comfortable with death is very important in my belief system. I could have whiled away my time without a care, or I would have lived in inertia and fear – if I could pretend that death doesn’t matter, that death is a phenomenon which is a far away possibility and I need not think of it now, when I am 24 and is going through possibly the highest point of my youth. But I can not think death is far away, having almost encountered it a few times, and seeing men and women, much younger and perhaps more deserving than me to live, dying meaninglessly. Death will come, and no one can predict how early or how late.
The inevitable possibility of my death is my best weapon – I use it to destroy my fears. What am I afraid of? I am afraid of not trying things that I want to do before I die, not of failure. Death will erase the slate clean anyway. I must fill up the canvas with every kind of stroke that I can imagine – and make a picture emerge – rich, bold, and beautiful. At least I must try. I must resist inertia, I must not play safe, I must do what I believe in instead of making cheap compromises.

My death is my best friend, who drives me to achieve my potential, to be the best person I can ever be.

I have drawn much from the stoic philosophy to build my belief system over years – and here’s something that may interest you: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/04/24/on-the-shortness-of-life-an-introduction-to-seneca/