Going about his daily life, Julian A. Milkes and his mother drove out to the lake one afternoon. Since company was joining them for dinner that evening, Mrs. Milkes’ didn’t hesitate to ask her son to stop the car when she spotted some wild flowers, a mixture of Perennials and Biennials, on the side of the road, perfect for a table centerpiece. Julian pulled to the right side of the road, parked the car, and walked down a small incline and off the street to pick the flowers. Suddenly, Julian came face to face with what he presumed as an inevitable death. Tires spinning, engine roaring, a car came driving in a direct path towards his staggered body. At that moment he claimed to have separated from his physical figure and viewed the incident as a third party. “My whole life flashed in front of me, from that moment backwards to segments of my life. The review was not like a judgment. It was passive, more like an interesting novelty,” said Julian.
In most cases, when death hovers upon us, we tend to have some instance of clarity. That moment can reveal a self-judgment about our lives, or it can simply generate a montage that allows us to appreciate our past experiences and memories. Interestingly enough, UCLA studies show that the average person has approximately 70,000 thoughts running through his or her head each day and yet, all of these thoughts seem to narrow when facing our finals seconds. The content of these thoughts, though, apply to people differently and depends significantly on the kind of life lived by each person.
Although these fluctuations in thoughts occur, there seems an existing pattern of common final thoughts before death. These include, but are not limited to, a feeling of satisfaction and contentedness with our life, fear, a longing to stay, the opposite feeling of a longing to go, or a revelation about life itself. How do we know this if people usually aren’t around long enough to share their final thoughts? Speech can be described as merely an expression of the thoughts within us. Thus, in most cases, we comprehend each other’s minds through the words that we speak, which generates from our final lines. Consider the final words of Bing Crosby, an American singer and actor who passed away in 1977, “That was a great game of golf, fellers.” These words clearly express a feeling of contentedness with his residing life. A contradiction to this thought can be expressed through Mary Surratt’s final words: “Please don’t let me fall.” Mary Surratt was an American boarding house owner who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. She received a death sentence by hanging. Desperate to stay on Earth, she made her emotions and thoughts present through her voice.
Cause of death also plays an important role in the hue of our final words, and thus thoughts, before death. As I said, Mary Surratt’s life ended by brutal force and against her will through a death sentence. It’s not hard for somebody to believe that people who contain this type of fate have a deep sense of reluctance to leave, and possibly even fear. On the other hand, people who have lived a long and healthy life, with children and grandchildren, dying of old age, probably wouldn’t have this same reluctance to let death take over. My mother always used to tell me, “If you’re having a bad day, you’re having a bad day.” With this saying, she was basically telling me that if something bad happens and causes your day to turn sour, your day and attitude would both probably consist of sourness. That being said, if your life happens to end in a not-so-desired type of way, you’ll probably have some pretty undesired final thoughts before death.
A misconception among us entails that we must die to have expressions of our “thoughts before death”. However, take Julian Milkes’ story into account. He simply presumed an inevitable death; the interesting part resides in the conclusion of his experience, when the car aimed directly at his soon-to-be corpse swerved out of his way in the final seconds before contact. Julian Milkes did not die, nor did he walk away with more than a scratch. It truly only takes a strong sense of encroaching death, dark and uncertain, for us to express these thoughts that lie deeply contained within us.
Take, for example, the near-death experience of Bryce Bond, who collapsed one evening after having a bad reaction to pine needles (he has a terrible allergy to them.) Fighting to stay alive, Bryce felt death overcoming his body; he deemed his life quickly approaching an end. He claims a voice had asked him, “Whom have you helped and what have you learned?” Dumfounded, he couldn’t respond. This instance made him reevaluate his life and realize that he hadn’t created a purpose for it. Once he was revived he explained that he had to die to learn to live.
Our final thoughts before death are undeniably meaningful. Whether filled with fear, or filled with content, they aid us in reflecting upon our lives. Also, although this reflection may be too late in most circumstances, there remain the lucky few who will prevail against death and use their revelations to enhance their lives, such as Bryce Bond. We find it difficult to imagine what our thoughts would entail because we drown in the contemplations of our everyday lives. However, when death hovers upon us, clarity will come. And in that clarity, we will ultimately understand life and our purpose within it. Until then we must make the most of our lives the best we can and simply make use of the knowledge we contain.