Embracing Destiny
In How We Die, bioethicist Sherwin Nuland reminds us how little we control the timing and the manner of our final exit.2 When it comes, the end is often messy and painful rather than peaceful and dignified. We know that we will die, but continually seek to push this sobering reality into the shadows of consciousness. The cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker wrote, “Everything man does in his symbolic world is an attempt to deny and overcome his grotesque fate.”3
The question is whether we must see this fate as grotesque. To deny our destiny is to succumb to fear. To accept it, and to recognize that we contribute through our death as through our life, is liberating. It opens new possibilities for life and leadership.
We usually ...
Get Leading with Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit, Revised Third Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
