One question that will change your life. (quote, pray, Christians)
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This is one of my favorite Blog sites. Most of the writers have some valid points. Today, I read this one and it rang louder than any other post I have read.
Quote:
Did you know that, barring some radical scientific advancement, you and everyone you know will be gone in 100 years? All of that hard work and perseverance disappears, just like that. All of those years of striving and "just holding on", jettisoned into oblivion in an instant.
Now that I've hopefully got your attention and giving you the right mindset, here's the question: How does that make you feel?
How does it make you feel? Please lets humble ourselves on this one and be truthful.
I don't fear death, never really have. It has nothing to do with my spiritual beliefs. I just never understood fearing something you have little control over. When there are thousands of ways for us to die each day, to wake up the next day is quite amazing. Just yesterday I was almost hit by two cars on separate occasions walking to and from the store to my apartment.
For some reason, this article put another spin on this whole concept for me. Do I want to leave a mark as good as I can or do I just not care since it might not last? Do you think people like Plato, Leonardo De Vinci(SP?), or any other historical figure really thought about how people hundreds of years after their death would talk about them?
I think most of us would like to think we've left something behind that will outlast just the memories of our loved ones .
One thing I often regret is having totally designed and built two unique houses which have both now been sold and never put any type of signature on them.
I have sold well over 100 paintings that were signed so maybe my name and minor accomplishments won't die out with me.
If they don't, well, I'll just be what I am now.....only important to those around me.
I can live (and die) with thatsince even the little I have done was basically for my own satisfaction.
How does it make you feel? Please lets humble ourselves on this one and be truthful.
I can not say it makes me feel anything given it is more or less a position I have reconciled myself with a long time ago.
It could do with some tweaking though as it is not entirely accurate. "you and everyone you know will be gone in 100 years" is not quite true. For example I am 32. My daughter is 1. Assuming she has a child at the same age I did then in 31 years I will be 63 and my grandchild will be 0. That means 100 years from now everyone I know will not be gone. It is quite likely my grandchild will be 69 and still alive.
Of course if the writer means everyone I know NOW will be gone in 100 years (s)he is probably correct but they could have written it better.
However that does not bother me. One hopes MANKIND will still be here and whatever about you I care for my fellow man and I am happy at the thought that whatever society the human race lives in 100, 1000 or even 10,000 years from now will be one I played a small part in building.
Whether the people then are my direct progeny or not... I am proud of my small part in their future.... whether it is the battle I fight to help the slow destruction of religion, the battles I fight to increase the rights of the gay, the pregnant, the under privileged or the needy.... the science I do which adds to the knowledge future generations will possess.... or the love I show to those around me which in turn begets love shown to others, and to others, and to others, which in some small way adds to a more loving rather than hateful society.... I was here and I played my small part.
The idea that I will be gone myself and will not witness even a small part of that future... actually bothers me not a jot. Nor do I fear death itself. As such I am still unclear as to how the question will "change my life" as the OP title suggests.
The actual process of dying however. Now that scares the crap out of me
This is one of my favorite Blog sites. Most of the writers have some valid points. Today, I read this one and it rang louder than any other post I have read.
How does it make you feel? Please lets humble ourselves on this one and be truthful.
I don't fear death, never really have. It has nothing to do with my spiritual beliefs. I just never understood fearing something you have little control over. When there are thousands of ways for us to die each day, to wake up the next day is quite amazing. Just yesterday I was almost hit by two cars on separate occasions walking to and from the store to my apartment.
For some reason, this article put another spin on this whole concept for me. Do I want to leave a mark as good as I can or do I just not care since it might not last? Do you think people like Plato, Leonardo De Vinci(SP?), or any other historical figure really thought about how people hundreds of years after their death would talk about them?
It's a pretty mundane question, since it's been discussed over and over. But that's good you just discovered it.
Our achievements do matter, because they affect others when we're gone. If one cares enough about their family, or others, they may give something for when they are gone. Everyone gives something. Even the the people that seem like a waste of carbon have some purpose. People observe them.
Oh,by the way.
That question did nothing to 'change my life'.
Good thing too, because if it inspired me to go to my old houses and try to carve my name in the concrete, it could cause a pretty drastic change!
Maybe it's my someone depressive state of mind, but it brings relief. At some point, all of this will be over, and someone else can take center stage. Good for them. I hope they do better.
This is one of my favorite Blog sites. Most of the writers have some valid points. Today, I read this one and it rang louder than any other post I have read.
How does it make you feel? Please lets humble ourselves on this one and be truthful.
I don't fear death, never really have. It has nothing to do with my spiritual beliefs.
(edit)
For some reason, this article put another spin on this whole concept for me. Do I want to leave a mark as good as I can or do I just not care since it might not last? Do you think people like Plato, Leonardo De Vinci(SP?), or any other historical figure really thought about how people hundreds of years after their death would talk about them?
Yep. That's why they published their ideas!
If one truly has come to the conclusion that there is nothing after this life, and that there is no Absolute Necessity for there to be some "Meaning" for this life, then one has to come to grips with one's own mortality and impermanence.
This can be truly staggeringly difficult, I've seen, for many devout Christians. And so they are hedging their bets, but yet still remain stunningly fearful of their impending death, and they become increasingly intolerant of those who challenge the idea of some imagined Godly immortality.
So I'd say: ifyou accepted that stone-cold fact, what would you then do? Or conclude", or "bucket-list"?
Me? I want to make a difference with my own life, and in those in this world that I have come into contact with. I hope to help others perhaps see that they might be wasting time praying for the impossible, hoping for the improbable, or trying to convert others to their way of thinking so as to enhance and exaggerate that group mob assertion psychology (psychosis?).
I gain a true feeling of peace and inner joy at helping the many people (mostly by teaching the young...) and the intelligent animals I've worked with or "on" (my early days as a polar bear researcher for instance). It's also enabled me to better see the true unencumbered natural world around us all, absent any "strictural overlays" of what you may and may not accept, like the tired idea of man's stature above "the lesser beasts".
Such thinking absolutely and surely limits what you can then see and enjoy.
What I will leave behind, briefly I'm sure, are the memories of my thinking, mannerisms and the truths I may have imparted to my offspring, my peers, those I have taught, and best of all, how they perhaps think and perceive the world as a direct result of my insights, without silly mandates and threats tacked on.
That I enjoy, and it gives me whatever peace we can each potentially achieve given our inevitable end.
Peace, man, and let's see an end to false super-natural hopes and fear-mongering!
Most sincerely and humbly, and absent any God-induced arrogance & hubris!! It's just little old me after all....
It shows that know matter how great someone was, they are soon forgotten in 50-100 years and then only read in history books mostly for rote memory for a history class. It shows how small and insignificant we are as human beings to the rest of the world, sure we have our family and friends who acknowledge us,but considering there are 6 billion people in the world we are a peon.
The OP raises a good question. Here is my most honest answer.
Sometimes I don't care, but sometimes I can barely stand it.
I have a strong survival instinct, given to me by mother nature. Even if I know it's not logical, I still often find the thought of a certain death unpleasant. That's the psychology evolution gave me.
I have found several good ways to cope with my survival instinct and to manage the anxiety I may get about death. First, I recognize it for what it is, my instincts causing irrational anxiety. I point out to myself that there is no logical reason to fear death anymore then I fear sleep.
Sometimes I read up on biogerentology, and the rapid advances being made in that field. There is a hope that we may reach the escape velocity of longevity before I die. I also think about transhumanism, and the possibilities it brings in the next 40 years.
That usually is enougth to get me past any anxiety I may have and calm my survival instincts. Then I'm back to my logical self again.
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