be comfortable with the idea of death
If you are grieving right now, this might not be the time to read this post.
I understand how discomforting the concept is.
Death is a universally uncomfortable topic, but I noticed it is more so among Americans and the Western world. The mention of "death" has to be situational, contextual, that someone has to be sick, that someone has to have "a reason" to think of death.
But the fact stands: we will all die at some point.
Every passing day, we come closer to breathing our last.
For me, "death" is something I've been introduced to since I was young, from the deaths of my great grandparents, to the loss of a younger sibling, and most recently, my pets. I know a classmate from elementary school has passed away. A senior from high school of mine passed away. A teacher who used to facilitate my community service passed away. My neighbour who used to greet me every time she saw me passed away.
Of course I grieved their passing. But the point is that we are all mortal, regardless of age and background. It is sad, but that is why we should not hold onto "I'm sorry"s and "Thank you"s and "I love you"s for too long. It is precisely why we should slow down in our pursuit for money and comfort and self-satisfaction, to say the things we left unsaid to the people who matter. It is the singular reason why I am able to forgive as much as I have been able to forgive, no matter how cruel, no matter how painful some experiences in my life had been.
Because time runs out anyway, and we are left with the world in its state - and whether we can forgive ourselves, that is another matter.