I think that our mortality is a good thing. It is a constant reminder that our time is limited, so we must live our lives to the fullest. Show your husband how much you love him, or plant a garden, or sing a song - all of those wonderful and cherished things are so wonderful and cherished precisely BECAUSE our time on the Earth is limited. Mortality gives us a sense of urgency - say, I am super busy now, what with a very important interview on the 20th, but I will mail thoughtful Christmas cards (YES!!! Not E-Cards, but real cards) to my many friends, savoring the fact that I have them and realizing that for some (I know a couple in their 90s - I met them when I was 11) my cards this year may well turn out to be last.

I know for myself that I do not want immortality - I want a good, hopefully long, life, but I do not want immortality. I think that death is a good thing (I hope to avoid painful death, as I am sure everybody does) - it is the prospect of death that creates the urgency to do good things.