In my opinion, based on the knowledge we currently have, death is final. I don't believe in any of the fairy tales people tell themselves to avoid facing the reality of their inevitable demise. In fact, death is far too important to be left to belief. Until we have any factual proof death is anything else than our return to nothingness, it's safe to say death is the end.

I also think we should always be aware that death could hit you, any minute of any day. From a sudden stroke to a cosmic comet deep-frying the earth's surface, there's a million different things that could end you today, no matter how improbable.

Being aware of your death at all times most certainly does not keep you from turning into a crying bag of dread bargaining with fate once it's actually happening – but it's looming presence does have a certain transformative power over the rest of your life, if you accept it, that is.

Personally, I have philosophically struggled a lot with death before I started embracing it as such. Of course I'm still scared shitless at the mere thought of dying. But I have noticed a constant decline in the amount of bullshit in my life ever since. As a baseline mindset, death-awareness has significantly helped me cutting out the crap; I have less friends now, but way more important ones. I work more, but I'm less tired, because I do the stuff I actually want to do. In general, I seem to spend a lot less time with stuff I don't want to do. I never was one to defer my life to a stupid phantasy of an afterlife, but certainly was a culprit of deferring things to a vague future, which I also do a lot less nowadays. And I have the great redeemer and its life-enhancing qualities to thank for.