Future Certain

In a time such as this, full of dangers that jump out in plain sight for all to see and beauties so subtle that the cynic sees them not, a future can be so very uncertain. How many of us have lied alone in beds and wondered just where we'll be in 10 years? 20? 40? The idea is a fearsome one. Will I indeed be successful? Will I be happy? Will I be alone? Unaccomplished?

Dead?

Let's face it- death is scary. For many of us, fear of our uncertain future is fear of death, for they could be one and the same, or as far as we know our future could be "worse than death" if that's even possible. I believe it not to be. Not to say that death is an ultimate, horrific end in my mind. Many different people have different views on ways that death is the beginning of a new path or journey, and how it should not be feared, and that's all well and good. Heck, maybe they're right. But let me tell you something- the guy or girl that looks forward and says the disgustingly classic line 'Life's a bitch, then you die' condems themselves to a horrible existence, not just now, but later.
Life's a bitch. Sure. Following that mentality, I might as well not try to have fun now, because inevitably that fun'll come back and bite me in the aft quarters. So what's it worth? Then you die. Great. That's it, the ultimate end. "Well" says he or she who holds this mentality true to their heart, "Guess I proved my point; Life does end up sucking in the end. Whaddya know, I was right all along."
Well, I don't buy it. The way I see it, you only have one life in this form whether you believe in an afterlife or not (unless you're Buddhist or another religion with similar beliefs about rebirth, but in that case you don't remember your past lives so you feel like you only have one every time anyway), so go have fun. If it does come back to bite you, make sure that the fun outweighs the penalty.
Let me clarify- I'm not saying that you should go become a Grade-A criminal by participating in a shoot-out or getting into anything like that, because that contradicts the other philosophies that govern my reasoning, but make the best of this life as a good person, because really that's the only way you can guarantee yourself a bright future- live in the now, make sure that when you look back on what you did today, tomorrow, and next week you can appreciate your life so that no matter how brief or less brief it is, the rest of it will be downright amazing.

So some guy flipped me off in public today. Never met him. Oh yeah, and I got a new hat. Smokin'.