Death

Death.
The end.
The big sleep.
Passing gently into that good night.

Death makes life precious.

If we were immortal, we would view life very differently. We wouldn't fear so much.
But we wouldn't treasure life as profoundly as we do.
Life, love, existence, learning... they always come with pain and scars. Those are the prices of growth.

I think that religious people fear death more than atheists because their unquestioned beliefs have not allowed them to come to terms with death.
They know in their hearts that death is the end but unlike atheists, they have not let their minds accept death.

Even if you spend your whole long life loudly claiming that death is not the end, you know it is a lie. In fact, the louder you proclaim immortality in the afterlife, the more fearful you are of death.

Again, death makes life precious. Life is a brief glimpse into the wonders of the universe, a chance to add to the cumulative knowledge and advancement of our species with your own unique views.
It is sometimes painful, for some much more than others, but therein lie the lessons.

I am what the younger me thought I should be... though I never knew then the scars I would need to get here.
Looking forward, I see the scars to come and accept them with great joy and love, for without those cruel slices of mortality, the love would not fill me so.
Life is thoughts and dreams of ourselves, and death a reflection.