The warmth is the first thing you notice. It feels like that moment when you go outside on the first warm day of spring after a long winter. The sun hits your skin just right, burning off the months of darkness and cold. Usually, you only get to feel it in your hands, your arms, and your face; but this is a whole body experience. You can feel it in your chest, your stomach, your back… Everywhere.

Instead of burning off months of darkness and cold, it burns off years of sadness and hurt. Our bodies carry our experiences. The good feel light, transient. The bad are heavy and solid. As we age our bodies get dragged down, sagging and drooping under all of things in our lives that didn’t go according to plan. All of the moments of shame and pain.

In death those things no longer matter. They are nothing more than superfluous weight that kept us grounding in life. The hardships in life are what make the victories that much sweater. They are what drive us forward. No one will remember our broken bones, our darkest thoughts, or our most shameful moments when we die. They will remember the good times they had with us. The secret smiles, the drunken guffaws, and the stolen kisses.

As we leave this mortal plan behind we take the good with us, because that is what matters. The goodness we bring to the world leaves a light and warmth for those that come after, or for ourselves when we come back. We are born from that energy, that positivity. We do not know pain when we are born, or fear, or want, or need. We are born of positive things, because we cannot bring the negative with us from our past life. It is too heavy. To unimportant. We are born light and only add the heaviness of life to keep us grounded so that we can recognize and appreciate the good when it comes.