The four themes of many in this life haunt us like a frightening childhood memory. They are themes we ponder from time to time, and for some, day in and day out.

Interconnected in many ways, these themes cause us to stop, cause us to reflect, give us a wake-up call and make us reconsider or question our lives and how we are living them.

Love has been described as the most beautiful feeling in the world. This feeling takes us inside a dream world where everything seems happy and secure.

To share a romantic feeling with someone else on such an extreme level is one of the ultimate everlasting experiences in this life. On the other hand, love can drive you off a cliff or trap you inside a mine, metaphorically speaking.

Often times, people can’t really describe what love is even though they claim to be in love. How do people know if they are in love? You know when you know? Enough said.

Sex is just as confusing as love because the two have so much in common but can also be two different roads that never intersect. Many will say sex is beautiful when it derives from love. In contrast, sex is also practiced without love, and this is often referred to as lust.

Where do you belong in this predicament? Did you find sex before love or love before sex? Or maybe neither one has been experienced yet.

In any case, a balance between the two is found to satisfy most people. There aren’t any regulations for love or sex because people have the freedom to choose whom they want to share the experience with.

This freedom allows people the opportunity to discover others who share the same physical attraction and the same intimate feelings for one another.

Death is a redundant theme feared by many of us. Unlike the previous two themes, death cannot be explored. It cannot be experimented. Of course, some have claimed they have experienced death and lived to tell the tale.

Keep in mind, however, that death is final; with respects to beliefs of the afterlife, death exists on one level:It is the end of the living.

When these thoughts linger in your head, you begin to think about your own mortality. The fear of death is divided into many categories such as the fear of dying alone, dying young, dying a painful death or dying without feeling like you accomplished anything in life.

It’s healthy to step back and think about mortality once in a while, but you shouldn’t lose any sleep over it. The meaning of life pretty much sums up the chaos and confusion we go through in the process of getting our lives together.

I think this is brought up periodically in life, mostly during the transitional periods:puberty, adulthood, marriage, having children and finally through a mid-life crisis. The usual questions seem to pop-up here and there:Who am I? Where am I going and why? What purpose do I serve on this earth?

Unfortunately, these questions are rarely answered, but sometimes we find the answers through different experiences in our lives.

For example, you may stumble upon why you were put on this earth according to what you’re passionate about. An artist may believe their place in this world is revealed through their paintings and they were destined to paint inspiring works of art.

The truth is, everyone has their own interpretation of the meaning of life in terms of their own philosophical views that correspond with their own life style.

Some may say we’re here to enjoy ourselves and have fun. Call that diversion. Call that procrastination. I call that life.

Others will say we’re here to learn and grow and utilize our technology to bring us closer together as human beings. Call it advancement. Call it progression. I call that life.

And so I said to the waiter, “Can I get the check please?”