Before I make my first statement, there are a few things you need to know about me. I'm not depressed, or suicidal. I'm not super religious, nor am I an atheist. I don't dress in all black, and I'm not obsessed. I'm a normal high school Sophomore, and that is all.

I now realized I am not afraid of death. In fact, I'm afraid of life. If you saw me on the street, there is no way you could know this about me. You could even spend your entire life with me, and have no clue that I fear life. The truth is, life is indeed scary, and is filled with scary things. Everything anyone has been afraid of is a part of life, even death. Spiders, skeletons, tall heights, small spaces, monsters, and the dark are all things that you will have to encounter in life.

I have a very strong argument for not being afraid of death, because technically I was dead once, and so was everyone. I was dead for trillions of years. It wasn't until the year nineteen ninety six that I was finally alive. So you tell me; was it scary? My answer is no. While I was dead, everything in history happened. Everything from The Big Bang to the year nineteen ninety six. If you ask me, in that time some pretty freaky stuff happened. In my opinion, all of those events are more frightening than death.

Most people would argue with me that I should be afraid of death, because that's when my judgement will come. That is when I will be welcomed into Heaven, or banished to Hell. Whether or not I deserve to move up a class in life, or be moved down. To me, all are possible, but not very likely. I actually hope I'm wrong. I think that anything would be better than just eternal darkness, even if I was tortured, at least I'd feel something. At least I would still be me. Instead I believe something else. Death is a lot like sleep, except for a few key things. There is no thought, no dreams, and definitely no waking up.

In case you are wondering, I'm not writing this to upset people, or to rattle the cage with my beliefs. I'm only writing this to remind people of something, something I think we have mixed up over the course of time. Dying and death are two completely different things. Dying is just how life ends, and therefore is a part of life. Death is the abyss. With that being said, I am absolutely terrified of dying. There are so many ways someone can meet their end, and yet so few. Almost all are excruciatingly painful. One of my only hopes is to die without pain.

In conclusion, death is a trifle. It is not something to lose thought over, or blood, or tears. It is something that is inconvenient at most, and is something that we all must do. I have one tip of advice that applies to everyone on this planet, and everyone after them. Never be afraid of death. Never.