We have been given the Gift of Mortality

Utkarsh Narang
6 days ago
3 min read

December 1, 2025

Welcome to another beautiful week. When an idea sparks that I think is worth sharing, it becomes this weekly newsletter. If something hits home, write back. I love conversations. This is Weekly Spark #28. You are receiving this because our paths have crossed in the past!

Let’s start with a truth we spend our whole lives trying not to think about:

One day, we will have a last breath.

A last message. A last moment.

And none of us know when that moment will come.

This is not to scare you but to wake you up.

Because the moment we forget our mortality, we forget how to live.

Every few weeks, something happens that snaps life into focus:

A tragic accident on the news.
A message about someone’s sudden passing.
A health scare.
A moment when you realise how fragile the body actually is.

Mortality doesn’t always roar. It whispers.

But when it does, it cuts through all the noise.

It makes every worry look small.

Every hesitation look silly.

Every unspoken word feel heavy.

It reminds us: This life isn’t permanent but it is precious.

Why We Don’t Talk About Death

We avoid the topic because we assume we have time.

Time to fix things.

Time to say things.

Time to choose differently.

Time to live fully “later.”

We live as if life is on auto-renewal. It’s not.

And in avoiding death, we start avoiding life too.

Death Is Not the Threat. Unconscious Living Is.

The Stoics said: Memento Mori - remember you will die.

Not as a warning. But as a compass.

Steve Jobs once said remembering he would die was his most powerful tool for making big decisions.

Because when you remember you are mortal:

Petty annoyances fall away.

Courage rises.

Truth becomes easier to speak.

Love becomes easier to give.

Life becomes easier to live.

Mortality is not meant to freeze us.

It’s meant to free us.

Use Your Mortality to Live Fully

Here are a few reminders I return to again and again:

1. Say the truth now. The unsaid weighs more than the said.

2. Pursue the dream now. There will never be a perfect moment. There will only be a final moment.

3. Forgive now. Not for them, for your freedom.

4. Play now. Unstructured play is the soul’s natural posture.

5. Be unapologetically yourself now. Waiting for permission is another form of slow dying.

Mortality is the ultimate anti-procrastination tool.

My Personal Lens

As a coach, as a father, a husband, and a son, as someone who has reinvented himself multiple times, this thought sits with me often:

I don’t know how many days I have but I know exactly how I want to live them.

With presence.

With discipline.

With freedom.

With growth.

With love.

This is why the idea of being “Unapologetically You” matters so much to me.

Because if life is finite,

pretending is the biggest waste of our one precious shot.

Mortality Applies Everywhere

Individuals

Stop postponing your real life. Stop living the version of yourself that pleases others. You don’t owe the world perfection. You owe it authenticity.

Teams

Honesty, conflict, bravery, these aren’t luxuries. They are necessities. People don’t have unlimited time. Create cultures where humanity comes before politics.

Organisations

You’re not managing “resources.” You’re stewarding finite lives trying to make meaning through work. Lead accordingly.

The Reframe

Here is the line that has shaped my own life:

“Knowing I will die gives me permission to live unapologetically.”

Death is not the enemy. Default living is.

We’re all temporary. So we might as well make it meaningful.

Final Spark

If today were your last ordinary day, what would you change?

What truth would you speak?

What version of you would show up?

What dream would you finally honour?