OK, this is not going to be funny or uplifting. It's a morbid thought that somehow gives me comfort.
I heard this guy talking about having a "near death" experience. He was in a foreign country and was accosted by a group of men with guns. He said that they were pointing their guns at his head and he was sure they were going to kill him. In the time that he had to think about it, he said that his "life flashed before his eyes", but not in the movie scene kind of way. He said that he thought that this was it, and he was just resigned to it. He faintly hoped that it wouldn't hurt, but other than that, he felt numb. It occurred to him that he was 36, and he would have liked to live longer, but that he had had a full and good life and if this was all he got, that was enough. They didn't kill him and he said that the experience changed him profoundly, although he did not get to elaborate. It sounded from the slightly dull retelling of the story that it didn't make life richer and more appreciated, more like it just traumatized him somewhat.
I used to think about the Civil War (any war will do, actually), where huge numbers of men were extinguished, many at the prime of their life, in their youth. Those that survived the war often lived to ripe old ages, 80 to 90 (you'll notice this if you ever visit a Civil War veteran's cemetery). While I often thought that exposure to all the diseases and the resulting immunities that were developed were part of the cause for this longevity, I've also wondered if there wasn't a psychological effect. Living the life taken from your comrades.
I've said that I want to live to be 125. This was in response to loosing both of my parents to tobacco induced disease while they were still pretty young. They had their own fate in their hands and chose not to do what it takes to live longer. I've speculated that with advances in medicine, that we only have to hold on for a few more decades until the fountain of youth treatments (actual longevity treatments and/or cures to most of the things that eventually kill us) will be available. So aim for what you really think would reasonably happen. If the life expectancy now is 80, just a few medical tricks would make 125 not that difficult. I assume that this is a vital 125, where you can remember everything and still move under your own power. So I've planned on working all my life, not retiring, but switching professions as I grow older.
This rambling background leads up to the Virginia Tech massacre - the senseless killing of young and ambitious students with their whole life ahead of them.
My response is to take note, think the appropriate consoling thoughts, and then forget it and move on. I expect to see a lot of death and tragedy in life. If you're reasonably aware of how life works, you will know this.
It's not a bad thing, it's just how things work. You take your lessons from the fallen, avoid all the obvious traps yourself, keep your affairs in order like you could die tomorrow, and live like there's no end in sight. Your own life is usually not all that important in the great scheme of things. It's important to those you care about and love, your friends and family, but outside of your immediate circle, your death will not alter the world. There's nothing to lament or regret here, it's just the way it is. Knowing this may help you position your life in such a way to get the most out of it while you're alive.
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