Mortality

This topic has a bit of a strange origin. As we do, my friends and I were talking, and a topic came up: What if you were allergic to air? Of course this seems ridiculous, right? Maybe not.

What if Oxygen is actually toxic, and it's slowly poisoning us?

Upon bringing this up later to a friend, I received this response:

"Technically anything elemental in this world is toxic, but the human body just needs it... in a way being alive also means being "high"."

At quite a young age (perhaps around 7 or 8) I somehow came to the realization that, technically, from the moment a person is conceived (that is to say, the sperm meets the egg) they begin the process of dying. There is somewhat of a (for lack of a better word) misconception that we don't start dying until we are old or contract a terminal disease. But I disagree. From before we are even introduced to this world, we are dying. As soon as we start living, we are dying.
In the words of my friend:

"Your birth and death are literally the same thing."

That's a scary thought, but it's one that should be the proverbial kick in the pants that some people need to actually make something of their life. Some people may refer to this phenomenon as "YOLO" (now, I have some things to say about YOLO, but that's for another post). Despite whatever controversy exists over YOLO, the concept is correct. You do, in fact, only live one time. And you never know when your one life is going to end. Every year you pass your birthday and know that you were born that day, but every year you also pass your death day and have no clue.

These words from my step-mom's father couldn't be more true:

"The only thing you need to die, is to be alive."

Humans are fragile. The evidence is in the fact that something that we need as much as Oxygen potentially has the power to kill us.


Weigh in on this in the comments. I'd like to know your thoughts :)