Hi guys, I would like to get your view on how you cope with the fact that any day you will die and that will be the end?
I am a person that thinks a lot and sometimes I end up with very weird thoughts and this is something that interests me. I enjoy finding deeper meaning in things.
In my case for example, last year was a very stressful year for me so I decided to do more of the things I like and less of the things for the future. So this year I will do more "Carpe Diem" and less stress.
#carpediem #whatislife
Yes I believe my consciousness will fade. Such as if you sit in a sealed dark room and turned on a high voltage light, the heat would increase in the room. After the light is turned off, it takes time for the heat to fade and become part of the rooms temperature. Death is only an event to the one living, after that no one knows, but the odds are it is much more than this, OH I believe this. I will not be there to witness it, somehow I am involved with being.
I was dead before I was born and that wasn't a big deal.
I have important things to think about, and thinking about the end interferes. I just don’t.
I don't think about it all too much. I do things I enjoy, and try to do those i don't thatll get me further in life to be able to do even more things i enjoy. Maybe ill even be able to make some sort of impression on the world, for however short of a period that may be (whether its 1 or 1000 years makes no difference really)...nice to think i might go on living after i die through something i love and worked hard on, or just did something good in the world even if it doesnt last until after my death (rescue an animal/s, write 1 or more books, change peoples lives for the better throuh whatever relationship we have/had, maybe even invent or discover somethig that has an impact on society in some way, etc). Nothin matters really, but we have to find meaning in our lives if we don't want to live an unthinking, survival and reproductuion-oriented life, or kill ourselves.
I don't concern myself with it much at all. Dying is part of the program. Obviously, I would rather it take its time getting here. At my age, I'm at that 'waiting for the two minute warning' stage, so it sure as hell wouldn't make much sense to worry over it now. Sure, I'd like it to be quick and painless, too, but since I'm not planning ahead in that manner either, I've no control over that aspect.
Cope with knowing when you die it’s over. This is an Agnostic site. Agnostic = I don’t know. So to me, I’m clueless as to what may or may not happen. I feel I have the same chance to go to heaven as anyone, and I also have the same chance as anyone to just be dead. Every time someone asks me the unknowable, I just answer, “I don’t know “. Most days I’m fine giving that answer.
Thanks for keeping the discussion flowing! Loving your answers!
Brand new here Jesus. Already loving this place. I live in a retirement community and 90% of the folks here are religious. It is difficult to connect as you can imagine. How wonderful to be among like minded people. I am the rather ancient blond in this picture. I hope I can meet a nicee man who has faced his own mortality!
As much as it's possible I try to live 'in the moment' because when I eventually die I won't even know I'm dead because there will be no one there anymore to know anything. Kinda puts real 'zest' into life/existence.
I just try to leave as music, art, and writing in my wake. Will anyone remember my work 20 years after i'm gone? Eh, probably not. But i feel better writing a song than i do worrying about death.
After you're/we're gone, memories don't matter. I "retired" in 1994 at age 41 as I figured/calculated I had enough ongoing material wealth to continue living in "a/the style" of choosing... And what I do, I do for myself... yes, including making the world a better place (smallish foot print, no children...) and staying on good terms w/ others. But... a post death legacy of some sort? Meh.
I still feel better leaving behind some tangible creative output. Art, music, and creativity are pretty transient. Leaving behind hard copies or internet archives of things makes the creative process seem a little less pointless. And thus, makes life a little brighter in my mind.
I don't cope. I just live and reflect and always have a calling card to remind me when my ego gets ahead of it's self. "Memento Mori" yes originally a catholic Idea but I don't reflect on the afterlife or soul portion just the remember you're not Immortal and death comes for us all don't fear it and live.
It just is what it is. I don't really think about death beyond the hope that I simply die with as little suffering as possible. If all goes well, I won't even notice.
I think everyone deep down will still have that primal fear, just a natural part of our own existence and psyche. But you can't let that one point spoil what you have now.
Serendipity VictoriaNotes
Just by 'happenstance' (it is one of 2 that I came across) this came up again the same night I replied to this question. I like to read before going to bed and opened The Atlantic Monthly to this article. It is very interesting and definitely needs to be shared. It augments the link VictoriaNotes provided. It is called the WeCroak app and is billed as the anti-app, app.
I choose not to worry about it. I'm alive today. I have a roof over my head. Food to eat. A cat to cuddle. And a studio to make art. Oh, and eagles flying overhead. Why worry about death? It will happen when it happens.
It becomes easier to cope I you ask yourself, "Was I afraid or in pain before I was born?". Of course the answer is no. It becomes even more interesting when you think that the billions of years since The Big Bang was no time at all before you were born. After you die an eternity passes just as fast.
Thank you Victoria for the great video. This subject keeps coming up and always gets a lot of attention.
People often say it is not so much death but the process of dying that is so worrisome (pain, being alone, loose strings). When my partner was dying we got involved with the endoflifewa program and she enrolled in the states Death With Dignity program. I occasionally receive e-mails from them and I will share the latest. Scroll down to state by state to see what is going on in the individual states.
Nothing to cope... had faced death face to face and is what it is. Live your life to the fullest. Brother in law just got sick and 3 weeks later was gone, very inopportune and unexpected at 7 years my junior but we can not give much thought about our possibility to check out at any moment... sickness or accident. Enjoy life because it may be the only shot we got.
Why worry about something that is inevitable? I hope it just happens though. My partner was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago November an told it would be his last Christmas. It was. That sucked. He wasn't ready to go. I don't know how I will react if given a death sentence