With the End in Mind: Dying, Death, and Wisdom in an Age of Denial

by Kathryn Mannix

Or have you assumed that what you would like is also what they would like, or that you will be able to guess if you need to?

This first phase of life is, necessarily, egocentric. It is all about me. What am I about? What do I stand for? What are my gifts and talents, my strengths and capabilities? Does the world recognise my abilities? Perhaps there is some self-scrutiny to discern my faults and weaknesses, but that is only to ensure that I can hide them from the view and judgement of others. In this way, over the first part of a human lifetime, each of us identifies who we believe ourselves to be.