Death is one of the many things that are inevitable in this world that we live in. It is said, “From dust you are and to dust you shall return” a saying commonly used in funeral services or during one’s passing. Death is for everyone, whether you are rich or poor, sick or healthy, young or old. It tends not to discriminate and it is one of the things you can’t run away from. When it comes knocking you have no choice but to answer.

One thing that has got me deep in my thoughts about death is people’s perception of it, mostly towards the rich individuals in our society. From my observation, people tend to be less compassionate towards the death of rich people. Once confirmed and announced that a well-known rich person has kicked the bucket, attention and focus quickly shift to his earthly material possessions and the deceased’s lifestyle. Their death now becomes other people’s business and suddenly these people have opinions on the kind of life the deceased lived. Some even become investigators and draw up conclusions on what was the real cause of their death.

With everyone trying to be a part of the discussion, some go as far as coming up with theories of how the deceased was a part of the dark world, claiming that they were either a member of the Illuminati or a cult for them to possess massive riches.

As you and I know, a dead man tells no tales, therefore the departed soul cannot agree or refute any of these claims and all we are left with are mere speculations of who they were and the kind of life they lived. This makes me wonder, do people think that riches make one immortal? Do people believe that having material possessions is an abomination? Why do people think massive wealth and riches can only be acquired through involvement in dark magic and not through putting in the work? I know a lot of conditioning has been done on us in our upbringing, which has built a base of being judgmental towards other people’s choices.

We have been made to believe that material possessions and earthly riches are all vanity and they should not be our primary focus. So when we see rich people we are quick to say that they focused more on vanity. We are also taught to be content with the little we get or have so as not to seem greedy and now anyone with an excess of what is termed basic is seen as discontent and probably greedy. These and many others could to some extent contribute to why people are less compassionate towards the demise of rich people.

In my view, I am inclined to say that there is a high chance the deceased probably died a happy and content person regardless of the circumstances surrounding their death as they got a chance to live a life they had dreamed of one day. Never have I come across or know any person who desires or is okay with living or dying in poverty. It is then safe to say that we all desire riches and wealth it is just that others beat us to it due to various reasons.

I know for sure that life is for living and riches plus wealth can be acquired by anyone without any special formula attached to it. Also, working for what you want pays off. The degree of effort you put in your work is entirely up to you but the more the effort the more the results. Riches don’t come only from black magic. If you keep a keen eye on the people that are living the life they dream of, you realize that they work themselves off for that kind of life.

At the end of it all, it comes down to you and the life you choose for yourself. You are the one who gets to decide if you will die being at peace with yourself for you lived the life you wanted for yourself or a troubled being for holding yourself back and wishing you could have done more to enjoy your stay on earth. Before you judge someone for the life they chose for themselves, look at what you have chosen not to do for the life that you want.