Your impending death

[Queen Michael]

Hi, Escapists! Nice of you to read my thread this late at night. I have something about which I want to talk with you.
We're all gonna die someday, of course. But I'm not really aware of that fact all that often, other than on a purely intellectual level. And when I was thinking about things today, I just realized that someday, I'm going to die - and it probably won't be very enjoyable; it usually isn't.

I realize I am not making myself clear, so let me put it this way: You know how, when somebody is informed that s/he's got terminal cancer, s/he goes "Oh no, I'm going to die!" And you know how that's really always the case with people? We're always all gonna die someday?

So, fellow Escapists, how often do you get that realization that someday you're gonna die, and most likely it'll be agonizing?

 

[Sephychu]

Every so often. It's interesting after a while, because in a way, I've sorta' come to terms with it. Not entirely that'll be saved for later, but to a certain extent.

I have a lot of friends who are real reckless people. Drug users, Jackass wannabes, and some of them likely to die before me. They've all entrusted me to organise their funerals. In foresight, I'd quite like to know when I'm going to die in advance, so then I'll be able to plan my funeral, and after all my mate's funerals, I'll have experience.

I guess, when I do die, it'll just be another adventure, into something completely unknown.

 

[manythings]

I would like to see some statistics on the relative agony of deathes and the likelihood of that happening. Isn't Denial the first stage of the "Imminent Death" psychology?

Everyday. We're made to not think like that though since 95% of people probably would just stop doing anything useful if they did have the full revelation. On an interesting sidenote you're more likely to die in an accident involving your shoes than you are likely to win the lottery.

 

[Orwellian37]

Once in a while I realize it. Then I realize that my friends will probably get there first, some by becoming An Hero.

 

[Berserker119]

The thought that I'm going to outlive a lot of people helps. Mostly enemies.

 

[Queen Michael]

I guess, when I do die, it'll just be another adventure, into something completely unknown.

I love this kind of attitude, because it's undeniably true. If for no other reason than that you'll get to find out what happens once we die, and that's thrill enough for anybody.

 

[Darktau]

Don't care, at all. I don't care if it's in 80 years, or 10 seconds.

You get born
You find something interesting to do
You die

end of.

 

[MightyKitten]

"I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I Don't mind.
Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime."

EDIT: cookie to whoever gets the reference.

 

[Rarhnor]

Once a week or so. Gaming helps take your mind off a lot of things, so my mind is basically shut-down, for the majority of the time, when I'm not asleep.

When I die though, I hope I'll go off with a blast...or a very loud fart. That'd be awesome.

 

[Sephychu]

I guess, when I do die, it'll just be another adventure, into something completely unknown.

I love this kind of attitude, because it's undeniably true. If for no other reason than that you'll get to find out what happens once we die, and that's thrill enough for anybody.

I am happy you find my attitude so pleasant.

It's funny, because while there is that, and many people worry and tarry about what they'll leave behind, the only thing I care about is that people enjoy my funeral. How the heck will I manage that?

 

[Vhite]

Death isnt that bad, at least it wasnt for me.

 

[Tharwen]

I think about it maybe... once a week?

It just makes me feel like I should be doing something worthwhile. Also, I've used roughly 1/5[sup]th[sup] of my time so far and about half of the time I have in a good physical condition, which makes me sad...

 

[SeriousSquirrel]

Not too often, but when I do I spend a lot of time thinking about it. To me, there's nothing to fear, as long as it's not a prolonged death, and its not too soon

 

[ShrooM_DoughKiD]

Birth - Life - Death. Shits gunna happen weather we like it or not. I've dealt with it already..

As for how I'll die, I imagine it to be something like, cancer or my own recklessness at the ripe old age of 40 something.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

There's a huge wall of text in that spoiler tag. It explains why I'm so afraid of death and what this fear has caused me.

Spoiler

I'm terrified of death. I am afraid of the concept of simply not being and I simply cannot gasp it. I know the example of "well, when you were born you didn't care about not existing" but that didn't help and will never help. I also cannot understand how can people say life has no meaning without death. To me, living forever is a choice I would gladly take. I don't want to live a billion years or a trillion years, but forever. Anytime there's the concept of dying in there I simply want to ignore it.

What I'm afraid of the most is not experiencing this world any longer. I love the world, I truly do. The fact that I am able to experience it is a wonderful thing and I'm terrified of eventually dying and never being able to do so again. I guess this also has to do with aging, as with each passing year I stop doing certain things and start doing other. I imagine old age as the time you stop caring about anything other than preparing for your inevitable soon to be death. I cannot imagine what I will do at old age, because I cannot imagine myself being old.

I think of sleep as a temporary death. A few hours in which I am in no way aware of my sorroundings. I do not know what's happening with me or with the outside world and I might die right there not having the ability to say goodbye. The fact that I enter a deep state of darkness(Since when you sleep, you practically don't feel nothing. It's like you're not even there)during those few hours terrifies me. I am afraid of sleeping. I am afraid of sleeping because during sleep I am in complete darkness.

I've always taken things for granted as a kid and I suppose all kids do that. The few moments I thought about death I quickly tried to ignore it, comforting myself that I'm still far away from old age and eventually death. As the years passed I suddenly started to become more and more aware of my own mortality. I will eventually die, I will eventually leave this world and plunge into darkness and that scares the living shit out of me. I'm getting closer and closer to experiencing the unknown that is death and as much as it's far away it's also near. What if I die from an accident? What if I die from disease? What if I won't get to reach 30? All of these things worry me because all of these things can bring an abrupt end to my existence and I cannot handle that.

I consider death a disease, a disease that robs me of my ability to enjoy this world for as long as I want to. It's the worst kind of disease as there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can run away from it, perhaps with the help of medicine manage to outrun it for a bit but it will always catch up to you.

An active mind is a busy mind. Whenever I do something that requires the least amount of concentration I forget completely about death. I focus on the moment at hand and nothing else. A bored mind tends to wonder about and think of concepts it cannot fully understand. I suppose that is the reason I am so afraid of my mortality, it's because I've been thinking so much about it. I look at other people and see how they think nothing of their impending demise and I realize, those people have a way more active life than I do. Their minds are always at work, never having the time to ponder this concept.

This sudden realization of my mortality has, like I've said before, made me fear and think of death more than a normal person should. My curiosity of biology has lead me to discover illnesses and more importantly terminal illnesses which, due to researching the symptoms and sometimes experiencing something akin to them has led me to develop a severe form of hypocondria. I fear for my life everyday. I feared I had a heart problem and got myself an EKG and a full check up just to be sure. Of course, getting rid of one fear only makes place for another. My curiosity has led me to the tubes of the 'net once again and I came upon the condition known has brain tumor. I read up on the symptoms, realized that I experienced some of them and imediately concluded that I had a brain tumor. I was so scarred that I cried at nights due to fear that I'd die. I developed OCD like behavior, frequently checking said symptoms every night, just to be sure.

Reading up on brain tumors led me to discover strokes. My OCD got even worse, experiencing panic attacks every night whenever I'd notice something suspicious. Every headache, every blurry eye, every sort of resemblance to numbness in any part of my body and the attacks started. My OCD-like behavior seems to have been getting worse lately, has I seem to develop new ways of checking for signs of a stroke. This has lead to anxiety disorder, depression and stress which I believe is what's 'causing my constant headaches. It's getting worse and worse everyday and the thought of not being able to do anything about this is driving me insane. During the day I'm your average go lucky guy but my mind seems to ponder things I don't want it to ponder during the night, when there's nothing to ponder about.

And there we have it folks, curiosity killed the cat. I had to do this, if only to take my mind off things for just a few minutes.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Kurokami]

Hi, Escapists! Nice of you to read my thread this late at night. I have something about which I want to talk with you.
We're all gonna die someday, of course. But I'm not really aware of that fact all that often, other than on a purely intellectual level. And when I was thinking about things today, I just realized that someday, I'm going to die - and it probably won't be very enjoyable; it usually isn't.

I realize I am not making myself clear, so let me put it this way: You know how, when somebody is informed that s/he's got terminal cancer, s/he goes "Oh no, I'm going to die!" And you know how that's really always the case with people? We're always all gonna die someday?

So, fellow Escapists, how often do you get that realization that someday you're gonna die, and most likely it'll be agonizing?

I don't really care to be honest, as I don't know when it'll be. It may hit me hard when I have to face my mortality, but on account of my huge throbbing ego I don't see that happening any time soon.

 

[Suicidal Hobo]

Everyday. It's what keeps me alive.

 

[CK76]

I focus on the fact that I'm lucky enough to be born when I am and where I am and experience all I have. I'd prefer not to die tomorrow, but not as if I'll complain about it afterwards.

On the issue of facing your own mortality, I think attending the funeral of my friend at 17. it's one thing to see elderly people in caskets, to see someone your own age can be a bit humbling.

 

[Queen Michael]

There's a huge wall of text in that spoiler tag. It explains why I'm so afraid of death and what this fear has caused me.

Spoiler

I'm terrified of death. I am afraid of the concept of simply not being and I simply cannot gasp it. I know the example of "well, when you were born you didn't care about not existing" but that didn't help and will never help. I also cannot understand how can people say life has no meaning without death. To me, living forever is a choice I would gladly take. I don't want to live a billion years or a trillion years, but forever. Anytime there's the concept of dying in there I simply want to ignore it.

What I'm afraid of the most is not experiencing this world any longer. I love the world, I truly do. The fact that I am able to experience it is a wonderful thing and I'm terrified of eventually dying and never being able to do so again. I guess this also has to do with aging, as with each passing year I stop doing certain things and start doing other. I imagine old age as the time you stop caring about anything other than preparing for your inevitable soon to be death. I cannot imagine what I will do at old age, because I cannot imagine myself being old.

I think of sleep as a temporary death. A few hours in which I am in no way aware of my sorroundings. I do not know what's happening with me or with the outside world and I might die right there not having the ability to say goodbye. The fact that I enter a deep state of darkness(Since when you sleep, you practically don't feel nothing. It's like you're not even there)during those few hours terrifies me. I am afraid of sleeping. I am afraid of sleeping because during sleep I am in complete darkness.

I've always taken things for granted as a kid and I suppose all kids do that. The few moments I thought about death I quickly tried to ignore it, comforting myself that I'm still far away from old age and eventually death. As the years passed I suddenly started to become more and more aware of my own mortality. I will eventually die, I will eventually leave this world and plunge into darkness and that scares the living shit out of me. I'm getting closer and closer to experiencing the unknown that is death and as much as it's far away it's also near. What if I die from an accident? What if I die from disease? What if I won't get to reach 30? All of these things worry me because all of these things can bring an abrupt end to my existence and I cannot handle that.

I consider death a disease, a disease that robs me of my ability to enjoy this world for as long as I want to. It's the worst kind of disease as there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can run away from it, perhaps with the help of medicine manage to outrun it for a bit but it will always catch up to you.

An active mind is a busy mind. Whenever I do something that requires the least amount of concentration I forget completely about death. I focus on the moment at hand and nothing else. A bored mind tends to wonder about and think of concepts it cannot fully understand. I suppose that is the reason I am so afraid of my mortality, it's because I've been thinking so much about it. I look at other people and see how they think nothing of their impending demise and I realize, those people have a way more active life than I do. Their minds are always at work, never having the time to ponder this concept.

This sudden realization of my mortality has, like I've said before, made me fear and think of death more than a normal person should. My curiosity of biology has lead me to discover illnesses and more importantly terminal illnesses which, due to researching the symptoms and sometimes experiencing something akin to them has led me to develop a severe form of hypocondria. I fear for my life everyday. I feared I had a heart problem and got myself an EKG and a full check up just to be sure. Of course, getting rid of one fear only makes place for another. My curiosity has led me to the tubes of the 'net once again and I came upon the condition known has brain tumor. I read up on the symptoms, realized that I experienced some of them and imediately concluded that I had a brain tumor. I was so scarred that I cried at nights due to fear that I'd die. I developed OCD like behavior, frequently checking said symptoms every night, just to be sure.

Reading up on brain tumors led me to discover strokes. My OCD got even worse, experiencing panic attacks every night whenever I'd notice something suspicious. Every headache, every blurry eye, every sort of resemblance to numbness in any part of my body and the attacks started. My OCD-like behavior seems to have been getting worse lately, has I seem to develop new ways of checking for signs of a stroke. This has lead to anxiety disorder, depression and stress which I believe is what's 'causing my constant headaches. It's getting worse and worse everyday and the thought of not being able to do anything about this is driving me insane. During the day I'm your average go lucky guy but my mind seems to ponder things I don't want it to ponder during the night, when there's nothing to ponder about.

And there we have it folks, curiosity killed the cat. I had to do this, if only to take my mind off things for just a few minutes.

Dang. I guess you and I are opposites, I have OCD too (of another kind), but I like sleeping because sleeping means I don't have to think about that anymore. It keeps me from being suicidal to know that I'll get to die temporarily for a while every day.