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I'm afraid of how it's going to happen, but not death itself....
Example: If I was born 4/3/66, where was I before that? Did it bother me not being around the earth then? I figure i'm going back to where I was before here haha
I could see people being sad about the party going on without them -- assuming they enjoyed life in the first place and didn't suffer too much, such that they could regard it as a party and not a torture session.
But afraid? There is inherently nothing to fear from ... nothing.
Personally my life has been a mixed bag, somewhat biased towards suffering, grief, loss, and disappointment -- so being rather the worse for wear, I regard it as a feature, rather than a bug, that life is finite and has an endpoint. Also when you think about it, we are not built for eternity. We are story telling creatures, and stories need beginnings, middles, and -- yes -- ends. To me, all eternal lives would eventually become their own hell. I'm glad there's no reason to think we are obliged to have new experiences indefinitely, whether or not we actually want them.
Probably because of the concept of it being dark and you are aware of nothing forever.
Doesn't sound too bad yet at the same time the finality of it just sounds intimidating.
Who wants to be in that kind of dark state for eternity (even if unaware), when they have known the joy of life (for some).
meh..Been there done that....Resuscitated me 3 times before it stuck... The thing I ponder is why the human body works so hard at staying alive? This is a question I have for my Christian friends. Why do we fight so hard to stay alive when we know that we are guaranteed a better place???????
The reason why the body fights so hard to stave off death is because it is flesh. The flesh and saten are working together against us.We are at war with the flesh. The flesh is a live being. That being knows it has to die. Back to the dirt. It's not YOU who fears termination, it's the flesh that you live in who fears termination. And guess what, the flesh isn't the only one who fears termination, his partner fears termination also. They both know their time is winding down. And both if they had would destroy us all.
And if you don't think you and your flesh are separate beings? Ponder this: 99 percent of people that are in jail because of one thing....they fell to control their flesh. And now someone controls it for them.
The only between them and YOU is you are somewhat in control of your flesh.
Why do you think you have to force yourself to exercise, force yourself not to eat so much, or drink so much, or not to procrastinate, not to harm people who wrong you, or go to work everyday....WE fight our flesh everyday since the day we were born.
Your flesh is NOT your friend.
Next time you see a homeless person talking to themselves, guess who they are talking to...........their flesh. Which again, is a live being.
I am more concerned about how I die. I don't want to gasp for breath or choke or drown. If I could flick a switch and turn it off, I wouldn't care. Then, my only fear or worry is my two kids being sad and crying over me being gone and also I worry how they will be. Not afraid of death after it happens though.
Probably because of the concept of it being dark and you are aware of nothing forever.
Doesn't sound too bad yet at the same time the finality of it just sounds intimidating.
Who wants to be in that kind of dark state for eternity (even if unaware), when they have known the joy of life (for some).
I hear you, but that is living in the future rather than in the present. Which is particularly pointless when you know you will be unaware of your situation after death.
I'm way more intimidated by the potential suffering involved in the PROCESS of dying, than in death itself. And the finality of death is a comfort to me.
Neither of us is getting out of this alive ... we have an unknown amount of time left on this earth. We should make the most of it while it's here rather than obsessing about it ending someday, thus robbing ourselves of the joy (as you put it) of living in the present.
I am more concerned about how I die. I don't want to gasp for breath or choke or drown. If I could flick a switch and turn it off, I wouldn't care. Then, my only fear or worry is my two kids being sad and crying over me being gone and also I worry how they will be. Not afraid of death after it happens though.
By all accounts most modes of death by "natural causes" aren't that bad because your brain starts to shut down as you go. I am more worried about being mangled in a car crash or something like that, and taking a long time to die or finishing out many years of profound disability with paid orderlies wiping my butt for me.
But even that is at least finite, and no point in worrying about something that may never happen.
tardy to the party and didn't read 5 pages of posts (at 30 per page) but there's also fear of leaving kids and loved ones that you're taking care of behind.
One such movie ended up poorly for his 2 daughters because their father died
tardy to the party and didn't read 5 pages of posts (at 30 per page) but there's also fear of leaving kids and loved ones that you're taking care of behind.
One such movie ended up poorly for his 2 daughters because their father died
My children are all adults now, but when they weren't, I did not fear them being bereft of me, simply because being afraid wouldn't prevent it or make it significantly less likely, and I was doing everything I reasonably could (driving the speed limit, not doing drugs, etc) to prevent it happening.
One must always ask, "how is my emotional reaction helping matters"? I can't think of any good thing that can come from entertaining the fear that your children will become orphans, beyond taking reasonable steps to minimize the probability.
I hear you, but that is living in the future rather than in the present. Which is particularly pointless when you know you will be unaware of your situation after death.
I'm way more intimidated by the potential suffering involved in the PROCESS of dying, than in death itself. And the finality of death is a comfort to me.
Neither of us is getting out of this alive ... we have an unknown amount of time left on this earth. We should make the most of it while it's here rather than obsessing about it ending someday, thus robbing ourselves of the joy (as you put it) of living in the present.
Makes sense, but I still feel troubled by the fact that I am aware of my mortality. I think life would be a bit easier to manage if we didn't have the capability to understand that we are mortal. Ignorance in that aspect would be bliss. Compounding the angst I have about being mortal is the fact that not I or anyone else knows when our time will be up. That uncertainty bothers me for some reason. It bothers me to the point where I often think that planning for anything in the future or working towards some goal that requires a certain set time period to fully actualize seems almost absurd. It ties into that saying about if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. But so much of what makes us tick is our investing time pursuing goals that involve us investing various blocks of time in order to reap the benefits of whatever goal we are pursuing. All of us do that to various degrees, yet all of us know that tomorrow is not promised and that none of us are guaranteed any length of time here. But we still push on. We go to school. We get degrees. We start families. We plan vacations. We plan retirements. We build businesses. We do all that while knowing full well that we could expire at any point during the pursuance of those things.
Often times I think the most logical mode of living would be too live a very minimalist, frugal type of lifestyle, one that would involve working just enough to provide the basic necessities of life and living, and nothing more. Be a surf bum, or a vagabond of some sort. Don't invest too much effort and time pursuing endeavors that require a long-term time commitment.
And regardless of what we do or how we live, our physical bodies will eventually go off the mortal cliff, and at that time, I don't think it will matter what type of career we had, or how rich or poor we were, or whether or not we made some mark in the world. To me, being aware of my mortality, and also being aware that there is a good chance that after our physical bodies die that there will be no continuation of consciousness or no afterlife, makes it hard for me to justify putting too much effort or energy into doing much of anything in the here and now. Living in the here and now and focusing on the present makes sense. But I can't suspend my awareness of the seemingly futile nature of existence enough to fully immerse myself in the present. It's very troubling.
I struggle with all of these existential and metaphysical issues, to the point of becoming very depressed and apathetic.
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The answer....
