Are you alive, or are you dead?

What is death? What is life? Life is to death what death is to life. What is life without death? It would be empty, not full. If there was no death, when people got sick, they would stay sick. If they were in pain, they would stay in pain. A life of never ending pain is no life. If there was no death, there would be no reason for new life, and hence no births. No joy. What is life without joy?

What is death without life? It would not exist. If there is nothing alive then there is nothing that could be dead. One cannot exist without the other and one should not exist without the other.

How do you know you are alive? How do you know when you are dead? Are you alive when this, this frail shell we inhabit pulsates, or are you alive when your sole makes a difference to someone, when there ‘life’ would not be the same if yours wasn’t there.

Are you dead when your heart stops beating, or when blood flows freely from your wrists or when, finally, you lie still. Or are you dead when you no longer matter. When people do not, have not, will not think of you, once, ever or never.

Are you alive, or are you dead?