I've been in that weird tranisition phase when I'm trying to realize and accept the philosophies of life without religion or a god, and I keep finding myself panicking a bit about death. Being taught since birth that you'll live forever, and then realizing that you were lied to is hard to accept. Sometimes I feel okay about it, and realize that I have so much life and opportunity ahead of me, but other times I get so worried that I'm going to get in some horrible accident or something and end up dying young, without getting to fulfill my dreams of a career, or getting to see places in the world I want to. Does anyone else feel like this sometimes? And how do you cope with it?

Consider the idea that if there really is no life after death and you no longer exist, you will not even be aware that you have died and will not experience the nothingness.
Of course the way you die and the effect that it will have on others might still be a concern.

I am 79 years old and I have made a conscious decision not to worry about death. I was born. Therefore I am entitled to die. Everything else is frosting on the cake.

When it happens it happens. I intend to live the rest of my life AS I SEE FIT and I exhort all mankind to do likewise!

I M H O

I'm with you. I'm 67 and facing some health challenges with my heart. I have some new parts (knees) and look at every day like a challenge and opportunity to learn something. No point in worrying about the dirt nap. It's gonna happen when it happens.

RB

In my opinion, when you die-that's it. The end.

You have no epilogue, no final chapter, no final review, no highlight reel, no time to reflect, no ability to be disappointed in how long/short your time on earth was, etc. If you are dead, by definition, you're switched off-unplugged.

So, why worry? Just keep living and try to keep in mind that you have today, yesterday and the dream of tomorrow to keep you content and occupied while you still draw a breath...

'They' tell me that the fear of death is universal, so you're in good company.

And as far as an after-life, no one knows and there's no way of knowing until you get there, as it were.


My anxieties go the other way, however. I'm far more troubled by an afterlife than I am about death as an absolute end. Consider: if you died tomorrow and there's nothing afterwards there's no Being to even consider let alone grieve the loss of a long life, right?

Ultimately, death can be seen as a good thing and a stoker of a fuller, more heightened life. Knowing life ends can peak the sensation of living.

Just rambling. It's an interesting, universal topic.

Human

Of course, like everyone else I don't know what happens when you die, but I think it's normal to think about death and worry about it from time to time. I like to think that we continue on somehow, though I don't imagine it being anything controlled or directed. But I just feel better, myself, thinking that I don't come to an complete end at death. Just me.

You might wonder "why am I thinking about this now?" Are you enjoying your life and feeling guilty about it, worried that it'll be taken away? Are you not enjoying something in your life so that it's depressing you and making you feel unfulfilled? Or maybe it's just coming out of nowhere, hormonal or something.

For myself, when I occasionally worry about death, and since I'm not suffering from any ailment, I chalk it up to being an unfounded and unproductive worry. So I force myself to create a mental slideshow of happy memories and images, as many as I can think of, and just try to crowd out all the depressing thoughts. Another technique I use if thinking about something uncomfortable, is to visualize that thought written on a piece of paper, then mentally take the paper, wad it up, and throw it away.

Since we can not know what happens (not yet anyway), it's just best to stay in the present and try to make the best of now. Also, really think about what YOU want. People always worry about not seeing THE WORLD before they die. I finally realized that while it might be interesting, I don't actually have a burning desire to do world travel. If I really really wanted it, then I'd work more or sacrifice more in order to save up for a trip. We all end up doing what we want to do, one way or the other.

Is the glass of life half empty, half full, or full when it is emptied all the way?

You decide every day there is something still in your glass.

Many people (very old, very sick, in a lot of pain, losing capabilities, etc. etc.) desire death when it comes so it is premature to worry about death until you are closer. If you are in that situation you will feel great and new freedom ---- relieved of pain, free from a worthless body, fully alive, etc. when you 'die' (leave your physical body).

I finally got Michael Newton's "Journey of Souls" mainly because it was really cheap at a thrift shop so I decided it may as well be in my growing library of reference books. I basically believe (because I communicate with supposedly 'dead' people) in an after life and past lives so I really don't need it for that purpose.

It is interesting to read the actual cases of people ---- the questions and answers. Still looking for a reason to not believe in hypnotic regressions but only on page 17 so haven't found any issues yet based on my experiences or feelings/beliefs.

The cases I have read so far seem very accurate/appropriate what people dieing would/should say/think ---- based on my experiences.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2015 12:58PM by spiritist.

My point of view is this, did you love your neighbor as yourself?

I absolutely believe in heaven, and that Jesus is the source of joy. You want to go there and have eternal joy.

Energy can't be created or destroyed, you will have exist after.

But to go to heaven you have to treat others like you want to be treated

It all depends. Whatever you dwell on or think of often generally ends up 'ruling your world'.

When we focus on the present moment, most worries aren't available to our consciousness. Therefore, "Be Here Now", to quote Ram Dass. "Now is the burning tip of awareness..." is how Alan Watt might put it.

So, therefore, concentrate on what is important to you - at the time - rather than let your mind wander, unimpeded, on its own, uncontrollably, in those dark recesses of the mind.

Just like life happens to all of us, death happens to all of us. There is not much we can do about it. So, go ye therefore into the moment and see what you can do with it.

Your mind, surely, can do a lot better than Joseph Smith's - or the Mormon church's - in dreaming of what eternity is, where you came from, and where you're going.

Live well, as if today was your last day. Tomorrow is not promised us and yesterday is still only a memory.

Death is a laying down of the body, not the spirit. The spirit is creative - it is yours. No one can take that away from you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2015 02:08PM by moremany.

Death is a natural part of life. We live, we die.
All that we can take with us is what we left behind. Live well, love others and what's next isn't really a hardened concern.

For me I found completely leaving the church a year ago has resulted in my fearing death much much less. A very nice and unexpected surprise. Instead, I am now much more able to focus on:

"Living in the precious present"

Here are some of the tangible results. For the first time in my life the little voice in my head tells me I am a good man rather than berating me for just being human. I feel like I am a more capable and better husband (btw, I think I was doing OK on this before ditching the church). My mental health is much better. I am more motivated to take care of myself and one outcome of this is I've lost and kept off 25 lbs - and I'd been trying to do this unsuccessfully for years before. I spend much more time happy than not. And trust me, my life the last couple of years has been far far from being all 'cupcakes and puppy dogs'.

Do I believe in God anymore? Honestly it is not something I feel a need to reach a point of view on right now as have much I need to tend to as a husband and father. However, I did need to reach a point of view on TSCC for the sake of my teens and my own mental health. Cult.

Oh, if there is a God I figure that if I do my best to live a good life that he won't get hung up on whether or not I believe in him. Just putting that out there.

To quote Mark Twain, "I am not afraid of death. I was dead for billions of years before I was born and it hasn't harmed me in any way."

The only thing that makes life precious (for me) is knowing that someday it will end. I would bet you've probably already accomplished many things that others will never do in their lifetime.

Living for eternity does not sound fun...I would get bored after the first 85 years or so......hmmmmmmmmm.

I don't worry about it because I don't want to mar whatever time I have left.

Nothing to be done about it. You will die. I will die. There is nothing you can do about it. You will simply cease to exist and this last oblivion won't be any different from the nothingness that reigned over your existence before you were born.

There is no state of bliss you will miss out on nor state of torment to fear. All your pain receptors exist in your living body. All your joys are neurochemical reactions in your living brain. When your brain dies you cease to feel anything. Even if we keep your body breathing and your blood pumping, we could play the most beautiful symphonies far your ears or kick your vegetable ass and you would be indifferent to either.

No one is home. There just is nothing to fear in death itself. Now, the anticipation of death--that's different. As long as your brain lives, you live, and you can taunt yourself however you wish with however you choose to exercise your imagination.

I'm not advocating fatalism. I'm only saying welcome to reality. Be pragmatic and enjoy life, existence, while you have it. If you want more than this, the delusion you left behind still beckons for you to return, but if you do, the only difference it makes is in your head. There's nothing wrong with this, I suppose, but as for me, it is beneath my dignity to reach for the false consolation a second time.

My death will come when it will come, but if I can put it off for a few more years of life, then this I choose to do. Life is pain, but life is also joy. There is no joy in oblivion. There is no pain in death either, except maybe just before it, but there will be pain for sure if you obsess over it and seek for control where there is none. Then, the only release is to find a false control, hence religion. The universe doesn't care. It can't care. If anyone is in charge of it, they have seen fit to hide any evidence of their existence for some mysterious reason.

Life matters, even if it is finite.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2015 04:38PM by Cold-Dodger.

I still fail to fathom why anyone would WANT to live forever. Maybe I'm just weird? But seriously, think about that term. FOREVER means no end, period. Billions and trillions of years from now you'd still be you, with all your past experiences, regrets, faults and flaws. If there really is an afterlife, I cannot imagine us suddenly being cured of all afflictions -- we'd likely take those with us, or at least their consequences. And the concept of eternity generally doesn't leave much room for change, you know?

Have you ever had a long portion of your life that you hated and wished would end, say a tough year in school or work? You know that it WILL end eventually, and that's a good thing. Now think about it never ending. I feel the same about life as a whole. It's good to enjoy it while it lasts, but to think of it going on and on and on without end is crushing to me. If there turns out to be an eternal afterlife then I'm in for some serious disappointment.

I've thought about death A LOT throughout my life. I'm only 30 and yet people call me morbid. I guess being suicidal can do that to a person. So maybe it's just my unique perspective. But personally I'm quite content with an end. Death will come when it will come. It doesn't really matter because once you're dead, you won't be capable of feeling regret or loss or anything else -- your entire being will cease to exist. And there's no point about worrying when it will come. If anything it strengthens my resolve to live in the here and now. Life really sucks sometimes, but we have to make the most of it while it lasts.

It seems that some folks who ought to be alive aren't, and some who ought to be dead aren't. Both life and death are capricious. There's no accounting for either.

donbagley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It seems that some folks who ought to be alive
> aren't, and some who ought to be dead aren't.

I think human nature tends to avoid seeking wisdom generally. The people most likely to hang on, at least in Mormonism, appear to be the ones least likely to have deep insights into living a rich and full of learning wisdom life.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1680060,1680060#msg-1680060

If believing in an afterlife brings you comfort, then feel free to indulge in it. Mormonism hardly came up with the idea. The majority of Christians believe in it, the ancient Romans and Vikings believed in it, along with many other faiths and cultures.

However, even though I believe in life after death, I also fully believe that this life is meant to be lived in the NOW. Therefore I don't worry about my death all that much.

I can tell you that my elderly mother welcomed death. She was old, tired, sick, and ready to go. I think that the secret is to have no regrets. Live your life to the fullest, so that when it is your time, you feel that you lived well and fully.

Finally I think of the wise character Yoda from the "Star Wars" series, who was more than 800 years old. He said, “Soon will I rest, yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have. Twilight is upon me, soon night must fall.”

Perhaps at the end of a good, long life, we too will feel like we've more than earned our eternal rest.

mbslytherin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been in that weird tranisition phase when I'm
> trying to realize and accept the philosophies of
> life without religion or a god, and I keep finding
> myself panicking a bit about death. Being taught
> since birth that you'll live forever, and then
> realizing that you were lied to is hard to accept.

Though hard to accept it has to be better than thinking you will live forever and old like these people.

http://ldsmag.com/lds-temple-shares-the-blame/