reply
- Feature
- Like
Ah human's greatest fear. Think Peter Pan. To die would be an awfully great adventure! If you're still afraid, you can always resort to ideologies that promise a life after death. You have the church. Follow whatever they want and heaven welcomes you once your human life ends.
reply
- Feature
- Like
"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." I roll like Dumbledore & just don't stress about it. What would be inherently bad about death?
reply
Reading over the responses, I'm not seeing a lot of solid methodology or tools. So, here's a couple of things that got me to "the comfy place":
- Feature
- Like
Reading over the responses, I'm not seeing a lot of solid methodology or tools. So, here's a couple of things that got me to "the comfy place":
Read history books. Lot's of them. I recommend "A Distant Mirror" by Barbara Tuchman. After a while, you develop a sense that the world is a continuum, not an event, and eventually you'll grow more comfortable with finding your place in the continuum.
Eat lunch in a nearby cemetery. Do it more than a few times. I know it sounds morbid, but they're really quiet, peaceful places with trees and grass and a sense of calm that will help you relax with thoughts of your own mortality. When you're done eating, wander among the headstones, read the names and epitaphs, imagine who the people were and how there lives were lived and what brought them to their final resting place. Try to view your own life in it's entirety, a snapshot instead of a movie.
Thinking the world begins and ends when you start and stop breathing is a heavy load to bear. You'll feel better when the weight is lifted.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Being afraid to die is a form of greed.. people should be thankful for the time they have to live and make the most of it. I like knowing that I am a part of this world spiritually (non-religious sense) and that everything I am came from something else that must be returned. But two of my best friends are afraid of death because they don't know what will happen to them after and it's an anxiety you can't talk them out of =p
reply
People don't fear death.
- Feature
- Like
People don't fear death.
People fear the end of their happy days.
People fear leaving the loved ones.
People fear losing their chances to realize their dreams.
People fear getting hurt.
People fear feeling the sensation of pain before death.
If I knew I'd die peacefully in my sleep, I wouldn't fear death.
It's the pain before death that I always fear. The sickness, the trauma, the gasping-for-oxygen moment before death comes that I always fear.
I fear living with pain more than being dead.
If only we acknowledge that death is just another form of life, we then shouldn't be afraid of it too much.
If only we believe that death is just a gate for people to meet the Creator, we then shouldn't be afraid of it too much.
I suggest we live ur life to the fullest so when we arrive at the Gate, we would arrive ready and happily without regrets.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Accept that you are already dead. You see, Blythe. You are hanging onto some notion that you're not already dead and that allows fear to control you. Once you accept that you're already dead, then you can function as the soldier you are.
reply
I learned it in elementary school from Harry Potter: "To the well-organized mind, death is but the next grand adventure." Come to grips with it. Embrace it.
- Feature
- Like
I learned it in elementary school from Harry Potter: "To the well-organized mind, death is but the next grand adventure." Come to grips with it. Embrace it.
As someone who has come all too close to death at all too young an age, I've realized it's a train we can't stop. When it's time, it's time. Whether it's as a 12 year old, tomorrow as a 20 year old, or a century from now at 120. I have no idea when it's coming, but when it does, I will welcome it with open arms. It's coming whether I fear it or not, so y and come to terms with it?
I used to struggle a lot with the concept of heaven and the 'How do I know God and Heaven is real?' question. My put it best: "Alli, what harm is there is believing? If it exists, then wonderful. You'll have a brilliant eternity to look forward to. And if you die and none of it's real, what are worried about? That you wasted time believing? I've got news for you honey, you won't know the difference anyway."
reply
- Feature
- Like
I always think of something Penn Jillette said: "Does 1890 terrify you? You weren't alive and you didn't exist in any way. Is that a horror to you? So why is 2090 any worse than that?"
reply
Read on Epicurus. He had an interesting point of view for a lot of things, including death.
- Feature
- Like
Read on Epicurus. He had an interesting point of view for a lot of things, including death.
"Get used to believing that death is nothing to us. For all good and bad consists in sense experience, and death is the privation of sense experience. Hence a correct knowledge of the fact that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life a matter for contentment, not by adding a limitless time [to life] but by removing the longing for immortality. For there is nothing fearful in life for one who has grasped that there is nothing fearful in the absence of life. Thus, he is a fool who says that he fears death not because it will be painful when present but because it is painful when it is still to come. For that which while present causes no distress causes unnecessary pain when merely anticipated. So death, the most frightening of bad things, is nothing to us; since when we exist death is not yet present, and when death is present, we do not exist. Therefore it is relevant neither to the living nor the dead, since it does not affect the former, and the latter do not exist. But [most people] flee death as the greatest of bad things and sometimes choose it as a relief from the bad things of life. But the wise man neither rejects life nor fears death. For living does not offend him, nor does he believe not living to be something bad. And just as he does not unconditionally choose the largest amount of food but the most pleasant food, so he savours not the longest time but the most pleasant. He who advises the young man to live well and the old man to die well is simpleminded, not just because of the pleasing aspects of life, but because the same kind of practice produces a good life and a good death."
reply
- Feature
- Like
Realising that the fear of death is more likely a symptom of the fear of not fulfilling one's dreams in life.
reply
- Feature
- Like
There is nothing to be afraid of if anything no one knows what happens when you die so if anything be excited
reply
By accepting it.
- Feature
- Like
By accepting it.
In reality, since birth, we've been on a collision course with death. Each moment brings us closer to death. It's like a roller coaster with a big drop at the end. You and everyone else knows they can't just stop the ride or get off...The drop is going to happen whether you like it or not..Everyone is in it together..... Hands up in the air!
reply
- Feature
- Like
I don't think I fear my own death as much as I fear the death of loved ones. Living without someone seems more difficult than not living at all.
reply
- Feature
- Like
To me, It doesn't really make sense to fear death. Like others have said, death is when your troubles end. We don't really know what happens after we die (although a lot of people claim to) but we do know what happens while we're alive. All of our feelings, thoughts and fears are real while we are living, who knows after that? True suffering and fear exists in life for sure! The goal should not be to stop fearing death but to stop fearing life, to avoid pain and suffering while your alive, and to do as much as you can before death is ready for you.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Look to the only true way to God. Follow Jesus and he will make the fear diminish.
reply
It is a semi-rational fear, much more so than triskaidekaphobia and coulrophobia (13 and clowns, respectively), but beyond the fight or flight reflex, it serves no purpose.
- Feature
- Like
It is a semi-rational fear, much more so than triskaidekaphobia and coulrophobia (13 and clowns, respectively), but beyond the fight or flight reflex, it serves no purpose.
Increase your awareness, recognize that it is inevitable, and don't worry.
reply
Imagine you're in an endless garden of the most beautiful flowers possible. It goes on to infinity, so you'll never see all the flowers.
- Feature
- Like
Imagine you're in an endless garden of the most beautiful flowers possible. It goes on to infinity, so you'll never see all the flowers.
You're on a path through the garden that you know will end. Do you look down at the path and count your steps or look at the flowers? To stop fearing death is to stop wanting to look down and count your steps.
Now that you're looking at flowers, imagine an eternal emptiness - nothingness as far and as wide as you can imagine. Feel the emptiness. There is no time. Past, present and future are indistinguishable. Life and death are indistinguishable. Everything is silence and darkness.
Out of all that inky blackness you see a rose. How unimaginable unlikely, how glorious, how fantastic is it that this rose should exist? That rose is every rose in every garden - real and imagined. That rose is you and your life. Until you're sure you've really given adequate thought to how insanely unlikely and endless fascinating the fact of your existence could be, you won't understand the difference between thinking about life and death seriously and just being childishly morbid.
When you're ready, you'll realize that life has a finish line and that this is the nature of the existence you've been living all this time. It will never be what you want or when you expect (unless you're really lucky - or unlucky) but you can be ready and you can be peaceful and not fearful. That realization will come to you - not as a shock or surprise but as a comfort. You'll let go and stop clinging. You'll live on the other side of an invisible wall between childhood and adulthood. Unimportant things will feel increasingly unimportant. Important things will become clearer and clearer.
When you're a child, you think you are the Universe and all of it is contained within your mind. To lose yourself and your consciousness to death seems an end of everything. Little by little, you'll realize that you are part of the consciousness of the Universe - but only a modest part. Increasingly you'll make real contact with the consciousness of others.
You'll let go of yourself and see the world clearly, quietly and enjoy all the moments you can and then you'll sleep soundly.
Don't worry. Everything will be fine.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Fearing death is a part of life. It drives us to pursue our goals and dreams with the time that we have on earth.
reply
by being erotically in love with the unknown...........which explodes into a love for life all around you.
- Feature
- Like
by being erotically in love with the unknown...........which explodes into a love for life all around you.
releasing all care for your reputation also helps (which is the chief element of the fear of death).
reply
- Feature
- Like
Remember how it was before you existed? That's how it will be after you cease to exist.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Of all the wonders I have yet heard,It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death,a necessary end ,Will come when it will come. Julius Caesar.(2.2.34) William Shakespeare
reply
- Feature
- Like
The only way to stop fearing death is to look forward to dying. People fear death because death is the thing that will at random moments brush by you and whisper "You don't have much time." Not many people like deadlines but knowing that they are there is what pushes us off the couch and out to do what we need/want/must do. It is a part of life. I say don't fear death. Fear dying without accomplishing what you want.
reply
- Feature
- Like
You shouldn't fear death. Death is as much a part of life as life is. It happens to everyone, and we all have to expect that. Just live every day like it's your last.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Face it. Contemplate it.. what death means to you. Make friends with your death - read some Carlos Castenada. Realize that death is a constant possibility for anyone & everyone, and that, ironically, death is a part of life. And not just part of life - an inevitable part of your life. Having a profound psychedelic experience also helps.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Live your life in such a way that you would have no regrets, left nothing unsaid and never went to bed with an argument unsettled. When you live your life that way, the fear of death diminishes because you wouldn't be worried about taking care of all those loose ends.
reply
Without knowing what you fear (death or the act of dying) this is hard to answer but my outlook is to believe we are much like a caterpillar. One end is really just a beginning to what is next.
- Feature
- Like
Without knowing what you fear (death or the act of dying) this is hard to answer but my outlook is to believe we are much like a caterpillar. One end is really just a beginning to what is next.
Fear and/or fighting it will not save you from the experience.
reply
- Feature
- Like
When I have a sudden jolt of a realization of my own mortality I will get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Afterwards, I notice that the thought that puts me back at ease most is the fact that everyone dies, not just me. The knowledge that I am not alone in the human condition is very comforting.
reply
- Feature
- Like
I tend not to fear things over which I have no control. If I'm thinking about it, I may fear what goes along with death - pain, loss of control etc, but I don't fear death itself.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Learn what a religion like the Baha'i Faith teaches about the Next Life, thus conferring certitude.
reply
what do you fear about death?
- Feature
- Like
what do you fear about death?
Being aware of death is rational, but fearing it is not. Death just means your brain turns off, and your matter will be passed on. there is nothing bad going on there. but since life is awesome you wanna pospone this as long as possible. just have a cold relation to death, and have a loving relationship to life.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Death is a natural part of life, there is no need to fear it. Why live life worrying about something you have no control over? And( i know this wasn't a part of your question, but I find it in a lot of other questions) if we were meant to know what happens after death, we would be born knowing.
reply
EVERYBODY fears death.
- Feature
- Like
EVERYBODY fears death.
It depends on how much you are focussing on it that makes the difference.
I have a very old friend who is a diabetic and she said that she thought of death every day. Even when she was 18 and basically in th eprime of her life. I told her that I never think about death. To me- it just seemed too far away. Like- I can start thinking about death when I am 65 or something. Even when I worked in the hospital and saw death quite often- it never pertained to me in my mind.
I`m not sure- but I think a preoccupation with death is not healthy when one is young and healthy.
reply
- Feature
- Like
Fearing death is not the problem, it's when the fear comes and rather than accept it for what it is, you fight with it. If you allow fear to pass over you and through you, and understand why you feel it and what it's trying to tell you, and just be curious about that, you will find that it does pass. And you'll be wiser for it.
reply
1) Reconcile in your heart that physical death is an inevitable destination for all physical life.
- Feature
- Like
