Life's Change Agent

Steve Jobs died yesterday. The internet has been filled with comments and reflections. I took some time last night to reflect on Steve's own comments about his impending death, in 2005 in his the Stanford commencement address. His words are worth pondering, even meditating on:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart....

Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent.