I'd rather die while I'm alive (doing or living through something really exciting) than completing something exciting, then entering the dawn of life realizing that I'll never do something as exciting again, and then dying.
I wanna die in the middle of having fun, not in a retirement home.
I understood it differently. It's Sheryl saying the prayer, not Dave. It's not "don't let me die at the prime of my life," it's "don't force me to live on after losing everything that makes life bearable, a living death." To me, also, that is powerful stuff.
I agree with you; I didn't get the prayer at all. It seems to call for some «pre death» period when you're not dead yet but somehow not truly alive, and I sure don't want that.
Anyway our own death is unimportant since we can't experience being dead. Death that matters is the death of others (dear ones). My payer would be: let me die any which way you want... but let me die first.
so rather than bearing the pain, you rather inflict one on closest ones? you realize there not much between (apart from everybody dying at once). you like an easy way out of things, don't you...
This is a good state of mind to be in. I felt this way when I was younger, and as I've aged, I don't feel the same way. It felt better to have your state of mind. Hang on to it as long as you can :)
That's not what it means as I understand it, it's about not treating someone as already dead before their death. Instead to acknowledge their existance and use the time left positively.
"Let me not die, while I am still alive..."
That's powerful stuff. The idea of asking for more time like a kid in a swimming pool - just 5 more minutes!
I hope I do die while I'm still alive though. Dying after I'm done living sounds worse.