Whenever I ask people about their greatest fear, the overwhelming majority typically mention “death,” or some variation thereof. As a child, I too feared death's iron grip, as if it was something to actually dread.

Death is something that we will all eventually face. It is an event that befalls everyone and everything at some point. Death is the ultimate equalizer, as it claims both the poor and the rich, both the healthy and the sick, both the optimist and the pessimist. It is the ultimatum of entropy.

Unlike life, which assigns people to different economic and social castes rife with suffering and inequality, death levels the playing field for all. No matter your wealth, status, or power, you cannot escape death’s eventual touch.

Over the last couple of years, my perspective on death and its implications have shifted significantly.

I don’t fear death anymore because I now view it as a beginning rather than an end. To some, perhaps even most, this notion may be frightening. And that is a perfectly valid emotion to feel.

When people ask about my attitude towards death and why I’ve adopted this mentality, I like to fire back with a question of my own, which usually leaves them contemplating with their thoughts: "Do you remember what happened before you were alive?"

Following a few long seconds of silence, I continue, "What did it feel like before you were born?"

The point I wish to convey is that we all have experienced a state of nonexistence prior to life. A state of nothingness. My body, just like yours, was composed of matter that has existed for billions of years.

However, before my soul incarnated into this vessel, the organic matter that my body was composed of, was only matter. Just matter and nothing else. Nothing until the divinity of our souls sparked it to life, transforming it into something from nothing: an organic, living vessel sparked by the divinity of our souls.

I’m not advocating for nihilism, or the notion that life is meaningless, as that’s not something I believe in or preach.

I think life is a beautiful gift, and we should maximize it the most we can, as that it what we are here for. To experience life with all of its beauties, joys, pains, and struggles until we finally greet death, who waits to gently lead us by her hand.