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IT'S OK TO BE ANXIOUS ABOUT DEATH, BUT IT'S BETTER TO MANAGE IT PRODUCTIVELY.

Every day, we learn about people dying from this mysterious killer Covid19. Nobody knows for sure how to prevent it, let alone how to cure it. The best we can do is though social distancing and not touching anything that has been touch by other people. It is perfectly understandable why general axiety and death axiety has increased dramatically since January.

Here some passages about how to accept our mortality by using our strengths and living life fully each day. .

"If we have lived a meaningful life and achieved ego-integrity (Erikson, 1982), we are able to face death without fear However, when we have too many regrets and a profound sense of failure and despair, then death is feared, because of the fear that we have never really lived when death beckons us (Tomer & Eliason, 2006, Wong, 2000).

By accepting our mortality, we declare our intention to invest our energy and time in living the good life rather than defending ourselves against the inevitable death. Ideally, death acceptance should set us free from anxiety and energize us to live with vitality and purpose. By the same token, when we have lived a wonderful life and completed our life’s mission, we would be prepared to face death. Ultimately, death acceptance is one of the cornerstones for the good life.

However, we can never be completely free from death anxiety. As we grow older, we brace ourselves for the bad news with every annual physical checkup. With aging parents, we are always prepared for their death and burial. Somehow, the specter of death is always hovering over us, reminding us of our mortality. No matter how we rationalize or think about death, our instinctive reaction is rarely one of unalloyed joy.

The relationships between death acceptance and death fear are complex and dynamic. They may co-exist under some circumstances like a raining cloud in an otherwise blue and sunny sky. That is why death acceptance and death anxiety are not simply opposites (Ray & Najman; 1974; Tomer & Eliason, 2006; Wong et al, 1994).

In sum, we are all confronted with two fundamental psychological tasks: to protect ourselves against the terrors of loss and death (e.g., managing death anxiety) and to pursue the good life of living meaningfully and abundantly (e.g., managing death acceptance). These twin tasks of living well and dying well are interconnected in important ways because of the intimate relationships between the meanings of life and the meanings of death.

This chapter makes the case that the most promising way to achieve these two major psychological tasks is through managing the meanings of life and death.The positive and proactive tendency to create a happy and meaningful life serves a growth-oriented function.

The positive individuals would be willing to confront the crisis and create opportunities for personal development. Their tendency is to take on the difficult tasks and risk even death in order to achieve some significant life goals, such as competencies, self-efficacy, creativity or a higher purpose.

When individuals are primarily propelled by an irresistible urge towards self-actualization and fulfillment, then less energy is invested in defensive mechanisms, even though death anxiety may still be present. Therefore, meaning-management theory predicts that if one wants to live a vital and meaningful life, it is better to focus on the positive tendency of personal growth rather than on defensive mechanisms against death fear. MMT also predicts that the best way to reduce death anxiety is to facilitate death acceptance and positive tendencies."


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