Life and Death Part 2

So, My parents had to put our dog, Mandy, to sleep last night. I was recording and didn't find out till I got home and she was gone. Although, I wasn't as attached to her as I was our previous family dog, I loved her and she brought her own unique and special personality which truly did brighten up my life at certain times. Unfortunately, like most things in life, I don't think I really appreciated her enough till now, when she's gone. I will truly miss her. It got me thinking again about life and death. Perhaps we take life for grantid all too often, never fully realizing that it could be all over tomorrow. We get so lost in ourselves, our own ambitions, even our own pain to really see that our days are fading away. I don't want to live like that. If it's possible, I want to be different. It seems impossible though. Life is so full of pain and trouble and stress, it just gets tiresome. It seems like death is the only escape to finally feel peace. Steinbeck refers to it in East of Eden by saying that life is always the most stressful place to be, that's why they say Rest in Peace!! Is their a lasting peace to be found here on earth? Can one live a life of love completely void of selfish ambitions that frees them from the clutches of society's stress blanket? Perhaps these philisophocal questions cannot be answered. I don't know. But I do hope that life has meaning and purpose that can bring us relief from the pain, the stress. I don't want to live out of anticipation for death, but rather out of anticipation for life. Oh well. I don't think Mandy would care much about my musings. Rest in Peace, Mandy. You were a good dog and a loyal companion!!