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Every now and then, I get hung up on the usage of words and phrases.

Such as, “He died of natural causes.”

Now, rarely, when you read that in an obituary or elsewhere, do they explain what those natural causes are. It’s assumed that it had something to do with aging, a general breakdown of the body without some other relating factor.

But if you think about it, aren’t most deaths natural?

Let’s say you smoke all of your life, and as a direct result, you die of emphysema. Was that not a natural outcome, and thus, a natural cause of death?

Or, you have some kind of congenital heart defect, from birth. You die due to complications relating to it. Did you somehow die unnaturally?

Okay, so how about this. You’re in your car, and you’re speeding at 80 mph around a curve that’s posted at 40. You lose control of the vehicle, hit a tree, and because of the impact, you’re dead.

All preventable. You didn’t have to go so fast. Perhaps there were other viable routes to take, one with more straightaways and less curves. That’s not the point. The point is, you did something, and due to the natural relationship of cause and effect, you didn’t survive.

Fine. Not everyone dies in such a car wreck. Undoubtedly, there are people who end up in a coma, or with paralysis of some form, or broken bones and internal bleeding, minor bumps and bruises or not even a scratch. They live.

But in those cases, as long as death isn’t imminent, don’t we commonly say something like, “You’re lucky to be alive.” Or, “Dude, you know you should be dead.” And aren’t there occasions when said people then go on to suffer survivor guilt, particularly when there are others who actually succumb to the natural forces?

You get hit in the heart with a bullet, the natural effect is death. You get crushed under tons of concrete and reinforced girding from a falling building in a hurricane, death is expected. Living through that is the miracle.

Bomb blast, airplane crash, act of terror, war, drug overdose, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, crossing a busy highway on foot, riding your bike over a cliff, parachute doesn’t open, house fire, electric device goes into the bath tub with you—all have killed people, and I contend, all were natural.

If my hypothesis is correct, what then, would be an unnatural death?

Death by vampire, werewolf, hellhound or zombie? Well, all those could be categorized as supernatural deaths, which technically are natural (it’s in the name!), albeit extraordinary. Then, of course, there’s the whole sticky business of being undead, which are all known to be possible outcomes in at least two of those cases. Maybe three.

Death by alien abduction? Certain, it would extraterrestrial, other worldly, perhaps, but if aliens do exist, they would be a part of the natural makeup of the universe, right?

Okay, so I’m stretching it here, but hopefully, you can see where I’m coming from on this. Expecting to survive something that kills thousands of people annually goes against the odds, and nature. While it can be incredibly resilient, the human body can also be extremely fragile. In either case, it’s term of use is finite. At some time or another, we all will expire. To not die, would be unnatural.

Unfortunately, or perhaps it’s for the better, we don’t all come stamped with a “Use by” date.