When we think about immortality, we should not think about it in the literal sense that anybody on Earth is ever going to live forever no matter how many scientific advances are made in the future. While people continue to research and work on expanding their given lifespan to eventually never find themselves at death’s door, life is meant to be finite, and that’s the case no matter how long we are given to live that one life. Instead, we should be more focused on the only form of immortality that should matter, which is living on in the memories and thoughts of our loved ones for as long as possible.
No matter who you are in the world, everyone has lost a loved one in their life at some point, whether it was a family member, a friend, or an acquaintance and the grieving process is different for everybody. What anyone who has had that special connection with someone else wouldn’t give to have had another talk, another meal, another time with that loved one is truly priceless but for which we can never get back when they’re gone. Because we don’t ever get that time back with our loved one regardless of who they are or what they did during their life, we should focus instead on remembering the good times and memories that were shared together.
It’s key to really jot those memories down, reflect on them, keep items or trinkets that remind you of your lost loved ones, and think also about the places where they lived or visited. No one is ever truly gone if you carry them with you throughout your life and teach your offspring or other family members about who that beloved person was and what they personally meant to you. While immortality in the abstract sense of a person living forever is not possible and will likely never come to pass, focus instead of making your loved one(s) immortal by thinking about them, preserving your photos and videos of them, telling people about them when appropriate, and keeping them in your heart and in your mind.
Hopefully, the memories you had together were mainly positive and the times you shared were both happy and joyful. Also, you shouldn’t try to make someone immortal in your thoughts and memories who wronged you or made you feel bad even if it was a family member or a friend. Relationships, even amongst family and friends, can be extremely complicated so your willingness to have someone become ‘immortal’ in the metaphorical sense, who was in your life but is now gone should be completely voluntary.
Perhaps that is the closest thing we must experiencing true immortality. We cannot stop death, we are also not supposed to stop death when we consider the religious and societal implications of that futile effort, and we cannot know whether any of us will ever exist again in another form. However, we should remember if we loved or cared for that person who is now gone from our lives physically.
We can still tell stories and tales about them. We can look at saved photographs years later and still smile at the person staring back at us, regardless of how young or old they were when the photos were taken. We can visit the places they once loved and think about the times that were shared with them there. If possible, we can also tell the next generation who they were, what they accomplished, what made them laugh, and why they mattered so much to you.
Eventually, even our own lives will become memories for someone else and hopefully several people in your family and friend group will remember you long after you’re gone because of how important an impact you made in their lives when you were there. That is both beautiful and sobering to think about when we think about the topic of death. We are temporary stewards on this Earth, but the effect that we can have on other people can outlive us for years or even decades later. In that sense, perhaps the best form of immortality is not living forever ourselves but leaving enough of ourselves behind so that others will remember us long after we are gone.
