I'm having major issues accepting my own mortality. Has everyone already realized that they're really, really gonna die? Am I late in seeing this, or is this the next phase in growing up? Am I the only person who feels a clock ticking in the back of their mind? Everything is going so fast, I'm scared that I'm going to blink my eyes and all of a sudden I'm going to be on my deathbed. I'm terrified. I love living.
Anonymous
02:04:00 AM
5/10/2009
13 comments:
Worrying about death isn't as satisfying as taking it for granted and just living your life.
I think you're wasting your life if you spend all of it fearing death....so take the good things from mortality: motivation, appreciation, seizing the day...and realize that saying you've lived is a lot more than saying you've had a heartbeat for ~90 years....its being able to say you grew, loved, read, laughed, experienced what the world has to offer and helped people along the way.
Life is long, but death is short, so why worry about it?
I think about death every single day and sometimes the thought paralyzes me. I've learned to be curious about it instead of fearing it, it helps a lot.
It's a normal thing to think about. I was once preoccupied with the thought of death, and petrified of the fact that it will eventually happen...
It took me a while to come to terms with it and now I know it will happen eventually, but it's part of life and I am ok with that.
Eventually I think you'll be able to come to terms with it
@Anon2: Really? Read? Growing, loving, laughing and experiencing are all things that can come from many activities, reading being one of them, but why in the world would you make having read many things something that defines your life?
Yes, I too have those drop-a-rock-through-the-brain moments when I realize "Some day I'm going to be not alive." It's chilling, but I've been trying to take a more positive view of it lately. After I die I will never have to write another term paper or wake up with another sore shoulder or deal with another bitchy customer again. I wouldn't say it works perfectly, but it helps sometimes.
I've lain dying, but I wasn't, and I am not afraid.
I know my time will come, but (almost) every day I go to bed knowing that I've lived my life to the fullest, used the gifts god gave me, and held nothing back. So, dying would suck, but i feel that I've used every opportunity I've been given in my short time on earth, so no regrets.
God has nothing to do with dying. Whatever religion you are, it will not help whenever you die. You have to live your life for YOU and the people you care for because that is what a decent human would do. If you look back and you gave something to humankind and animals alike, then you will die without regret.
Okay, so don't read. Whatever you do, enjoy it.
and try not to be judgmental.....
There's a reason why they call this a "come to Jesus" moment.
It is uniquely and universally part of the human experience.
How to deal with it and what meaning to draw from it? If you are a reader, you might like "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch; "Death Be Not Proud," by John Gunther, or "Who Dies?" by Stephen Levine.
Anon 10, you are being the asshole. I was not trying to rip people of their beliefs. If you actually read my entire post, my disbelief in God was one sentence. My belief in humans was the rest of my post. You, Anon 10, give humans a bad name. Everyone has their own views (as you mentioned), and that is mine. Deal with it.
I agree, Anon10 is an asshole. In defense of "open-minded-ness", they're in fact acting the hypocrite by coming to an offensive, overwhelmingly-inappropriate, and closed-minded response to someone's alternative viewpoint.
My perspective for the OP: Everybody goes through this at some point; I used to be where you are now. Nowadays, I'm bothered by two more specific things: my friends / loved ones dying and leaving me alone, and me dying before I do all of the things I want to do. That said, once you're dead, you're dead. There's no going back, no second chances -- whether you believe in an afterlife or not. In my belief, there's no afterlife or anything, so no real fear of waking up in heaven/hell wishing I'd done something different while I was alive.
Without the reality of death, humans would have little motivation to accomplish anything lasting. Most people distract themselves from being freaked out about it by focusing on what legacy they want to leave behind. One thing's sure: we aren't getting any younger.
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