Everything is Going to Kill You, and That’s OK
An Article of the Modern Survival Guide
If there’s one thing that we ought to know about life at this point, it’s that no one gets out of it alive.
There’s a happy thought to start your day!
But seriously, not to be morbid, but we’re gonna kick the bucket, it is going to happen, and the only thing we can do is push off the moment of death, every day, all the time, until we can’t anymore. Something is eventually going to take us out, and that’s that.
The inevitability of death is something we have to accept in order to achieve any kind of happiness in this life. If all you have is fear of death, life loses its shine. And if all you do is attempt to stave off death, you may as well build yourself a bunker of solitude and never leave (whereupon you will eventually die of diseases that come from a sedentary lifestyle). Death is a part of life; to attempt to deny it is to avoid living.
I think we’ve hammered that point enough, so let’s get down to brass tacks — there’s only so much you can do to stave off the moment of death, and our society isn’t particularly well-adapted to this idea. Hence its inclusion in a series called “The Modern Survival Guide;” there’s a balance between what you can do to push off death and things that you just need to accept, and it is a key point in surviving and enjoying life.
Let’s start with the art of not dying, and then we’ll talk about the balance point.
The Art of Not Dying
Everything in this world is actively trying to kill you, or passively helping you die. That’s a key point and something we have to address. Diseases, physical hazards, mental health issues, accidents, the food you eat, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the oxidization reactions that take place in your cells, telomere deterioration, sugar… practically everything that exists in the world is actively working towards your death over the long term, and everything is acutely dangerous in some degree or quantity over the short term.
The trick is figuring out that degree or quantity, and adopting a risk management strategy for your life that addresses both long- and short-term risk.
Let’s unpack that phrase, risk management. A “risk” is a potential problem; it hasn’t happened yet, but it might. “Management” means you are addressing the risk and seeking to mitigate it — not necessarily to remove it, because that’s usually impossible, but to find ways to reduce the odds that it occurs.
Risk management when driving a car looks like wearing your seatbelt, obeying traffic laws, and maintaining your vehicle. Risk management when eating looks like avoiding saturated fats, laying off of soda, eating your veggies, and cooking your food properly. Risk management when dealing with people looks like not recklessly offending everyone you meet, proactively making friends, and not getting into vans with strangers even when they offer you candy.
And so on, and so forth. There is at least one risk management strategy for everything in life, and discovering what those strategies are is a key part of growing up. Some of them are fairly obvious (do not poke the elephant with a sharp stick, wear your mask when the airborne disease is going around) and others can be complicated and subtle (maintaining a balanced and comprehensive suite of insurance coverage, for example). The key point is that a small portion of your life should be continually focused on identifying and mitigating risks to your health and wellbeing.
There is an art of this, and it lies in balancing your risk management strategies to hit the sweet spot between mitigating what you can and accepting what you can’t. In my personal opinion, most people are bad at this. I know I am, at least from time to time. It is easy to focus on the wrong risks at the wrong time, overcorrect a mitigation strategy, or ignore a serous risk. To err is human. Perfection is not a viable goal; the goal is to strive, not to achieve the best result every single time.
The art of not dying, therefore, lies in continually learning about, devising strategies for, and mitigating new risks as they emerge. It also lies in continually re-evaluating old risks using new information, and upgrading or downgrading them as needed. Improvise, adapt, and overcome. This is something that most of us do subconsciously, because we are possessed of a survival instinct. But instinct is an imperfect guide even in the best circumstances, and it is very worth your while to take the time to assess your risks as a formal activity.
To put that in more tangible terms — make a list. Try to keep track of just the big risks that might affect you, and make a note of what you’re doing to avoid them (Excel or Google Sheets are great tools). This doesn’t have to be complicated or take any longer than an hour or so every couple of years. But it is an eye-opening experience, and it’s definitely something that’s worth some your focus on a semi-regular basis.
The Balance Point
Everything is trying to kill you, all the time, and that’s simply how it is. Therefore, unless you’re careful, your risk management list is one line that says “everything,” with a mitigation strategy that reads “AAAAAAAAH!!!!”
Obviously, that’s not helpful.
Everything is trying to kill you. But there are two caveats to that statement. The first is that not everything is trying to kill you right now. The second is that life is meant to be lived.
Not everything is trying to kill you right now. Yes, there are plastics in the water and soot in the air; yes, going in the sun hits you with UV. Environmental hazards always exist. But if you’re not currently flying on an airplane, the risk of dying in a plane crash is effectively zero. It can be overwhelming to try to think about risk mitigation, so limit your scope and reserve your stress, worries, and fears for things that are on the horizon, not over the hills and far away. Easier said than done, of course, but it’s a good touchpoint to keep in mind, and it should cut down on the length of your list.
Secondly, we have to remember that life is meant to be lived. There are experiences, wonderful experiences, that cannot be enjoyed without partaking in at least some risk. We will never completely remove risk, and we are all going to die some day. Nothing can change that last part. There is no such thing as total safety, no path you can walk that will completely avoid death. Live life, enjoy life, and try to avoid getting so caught up in risk assessment that you forget to stop and smell the roses. Keep this in mind, and it should cut down on the things you consider a risk.
Yes, excessive consumption of alcohol will kill me. No, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a scotch from time to time. I just shouldn’t have a lot of scotch every night.
Yes, there are some spectacularly awful STDs running around. No, that doesn’t mean I should never have sex. I should simply practice safe sex, and get tested if I have a new partner.
Yes, every human relationship that I have will eventually result in me getting hurt. No, that doesn’t mean I should avoid relationships. It means that I look out for red flags, and enjoy the good moments while working to ensure they outweigh the bad.
Life is about balance; contemplations of risk and death, more so. We are all going to die, and we can only put it off for just so long. Therefore trying to live forever is pointless, and we should be wary of anyone who claims otherwise. At the same time, living like every day is my last day is not sustainable because I probably won’t die tomorrow. There is a balance point in between and we should be working to find it.
Modern survival is about living the best life we can, while we can, and ensuring others can do the same. Modern survival is also about preparing for death. I am going to die, someday. But I can wake up every morning and say to the God of Death, “Not today.” Until one day, I can’t. That’s life, and death. But dying to live is just as terrible an idea as living to die. If all we think about is one or the other, we spin our wheels. Living life is about enjoying the good times and overcoming obstacles; accepting death is about facing that last obstacle in the knowledge that we’ve had a good run.
That’s it. That’s all. It will have to be enough, because it’s all we’ve got.
