It’s natural.

We all get concerned about the finite number of years our loved ones have left and for that matter what we have.

What may be surprising is that the fear of death is not a condition of the old, but also the young – many of whom increasingly are becoming obsessed with it.

Life is a journey with a beginning, middle and end.

There is no effective way to push aside the fear of death other than to make sure we fear not living every day that we have more than death.

I know a man who is raining cancer who asked his urologist if he could help him live just a few more years.  Of course, as doctors will tell you, once we get the reprieve, we want more.

The author and Mayo Clinic physician Dr. Amit Sood actually likes to be conscious of how little time we have as a reminder not to waste it.

He counts the number of years until his daughter leaves for college, the number of holidays he is likely to have left with his parents.  And although this may seem maudlin to some, this motivates him to enjoy every moment in the present.

Surveys show that people in hospice at the end of life never wish that they had worked hours of work, or pursued earning a higher salary.  They wish that they had more time for families, friends, experiences and dealing with life’s ups and downs.

Focus on living every day to the fullest because living to 100 doesn’t replace living 100% using the healthy “fear” of not living the life that we have this moment.