It is a thing I know exists because I experience it. There is nothing else in the world I can aptly recognize better than my own existence. Everything beyond what I experience could potentially be a conceptualization to render my life, or this experience of my life, more fulfilling. My ability to recognize consciousness in others is through shared habits or mannerisms. I have nothing beyond this recognition, I have nothing beyond my own experience, and I have no knowledge of anything beyond this experience that I can hold on to, thus, I await death with both a sense of dread and anticipation.