I don't want to die

[wexer9]

Don't listen to him! Our Religion™ is the real one, and backed thousands of years of research! Money back guarantee if you aren't satisfied with the quality of your afterlife! We know the Real Truth™, and by joining us, so can you!

Say no to Hell™!
Believing in this False Religion™ makes you go to the place of Eternal Torture™, also known as Hell™!

Just say no to Hell™, kids.

 

[six7s]

Some people like that poem, but personally, I think it's pretty stupid.

I prefer this:

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and hollering 'WOO HOO what a ride!'​

 

[Czarcasm]

Screw religion-just decide not to die.
It's not like you'll ever know you failed, right?

 

[fromdownunder]

I prefer this:

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and hollering 'WOO HOO what a ride!'
​

Or this:

Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Norm

 

[Moochie]

I don't want to die. I want to live for ever. I think learning things to lose them is torment. I like to live, but every thinking about death brings my mood down.
There is no reason to believe to afterlife, at least that's what I think at a moment. But living without hope for afterlife isn't pleasant thing for me.

For example, I was reading interesting history book, and I liked it, but then I started to think about death and now, I have no more wish to continue reading it, because, if after some 40 years I'll be dead, maybe I better stop learning and just enjoy rest of my days.

At a moment I don't even understand anymore why people who are 50 years old go to work. They will die in next 20 years or so. wouldn't it be better if they would sell everything, go around world doing all things what they wanted and when money runs out....

Maybe I'm overreacting to this no afterlife question. But I lost faith recently and I have problems seeing how can one be calm and die piece fully. I don't want do die. I want to live for ever!

The human mind is a wonderful thing.

I'm 59, and will be 60 next January. Most of my elders died in their late 70s, but my wife's father died aged only 69. Sad, sad stuff.

But is it?

It seems to me that we created gods to somehow explain to ourselves the eternal mysteries that science has yet to explain. Why are we here? How come we can ask such a question? So we have developed a multitude of "religions" to salve our minds.

But the fact is, we don't know. We "live," and then we don't. What's to worry about? It's out of our control. This Earth/Universe spawned us. Call it whatever you like, but we don't know, in the scientific sense, why this happens. So what? Trust the process -- that is, after all, what nearly all religions are about.


M.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

Has this thread died all of a sudden?

 

[Malkuth]

I think it will be exceedingly funny if it turns out that there is an afterlife of some description. So many who don't believe that there is will be badly shocked when they realise that they spent their entire lives deluding themselves.

As others have pointed out, there's zero proof either way. I personally don't have a conclusive 'belief' either way, but lean a little towards the idea that something happens rather than nothing.

 

[Marquis de Carabas]

There's only two options; you're either going to die, or you're not.

If you're going to die, then nothing you do really makes a difference in the long run, so why bother?

If you're not going to die, well, there will be plenty of time to do stuff later, so why bother?

Conclusion: why bother?

 

[PbFoot]

Consider the following...

Okay, so you're sitting in front of your computer right now. Now, rewind your life back to the moment you were conceived. (I know, it's before you were concious.) Those two specific bits of genetic material out of thousands had to come together to make you. Now go back further, to the day your parents met. Out of the billions of people on earth, those two specific people had to meet to concieve you. Now, go back a generation. Your mothers parents and your fathers parents had to meet to make them. Go back hundreds, then thousands and then ten thousand generations. Millions of individuals had to get together in your ancestry. Then go back millions of years too all of your evolutionary ancestors. Then billions of years to the early universe where all of the elements that make up your body were being formed in stars. And then back to the big bang, where those stars had their start.

Think of the trillions of trillions of nuclear and chemical reactions, the formation of elements, the evolution of life on this planet. All of those things had to happen for you to be here now, as a bit of self aware matter. A vanishingly small amount of matter in the universe ever achieves a self aware configuration.

Yet "you" did. Thats a lot of stuff that had to come together for you to be here. So, quit worrying about reverting back to that non-self aware state, and enjoy what you have while you have it.

You were there before, and you'll be there again. It cannot be avoided.

-PbFoot

 

[Btodd]

I don't want to die. I want to live for ever. I think learning things to lose them is torment. I like to live, but every thinking about death brings my mood down.
There is no reason to believe to afterlife, at least that's what I think at a moment. But living without hope for afterlife isn't pleasant thing for me.

For example, I was reading interesting history book, and I liked it, but then I started to think about death and now, I have no more wish to continue reading it, because, if after some 40 years I'll be dead, maybe I better stop learning and just enjoy rest of my days.

At a moment I don't even understand anymore why people who are 50 years old go to work. They will die in next 20 years or so. wouldn't it be better if they would sell everything, go around world doing all things what they wanted and when money runs out....

Maybe I'm overreacting to this no afterlife question. But I lost faith recently and I have problems seeing how can one be calm and die piece fully. I don't want do die. I want to live for ever!

Hey, I can sympathize. Losing religious faith is not easy for some people, and it can leave you feeling empty and without purpose. Some days will be bad, others will be better. I think about death more than is healthy, not just my own....but all around me. Just watching the news and seeing how much suffering exists is enough to make you wallow in depression.

Unfortunately, I don't have any revelation to give you about how to turn this into a positive, other than keep trying, and try not to focus on bad things. Help other people when you have the chance. And know that there are other people out there who struggle with the same realization that you've come to, but it still doesn't make life meaningless. Hang in there.

 

[Marquis de Carabas]

I think it will be exceedingly funny if it turns out that there is an afterlife of some description. So many who don't believe that there is will be badly shocked when they realise that they spent their entire lives deluding themselves.

I think it will be exceedingly funny if it turns out that there is an afterlife of some description. So many who believed in the wrong sort of afterlife will be badly shocked when they realise that they spent their entire lives deluding themselves.

 

[Malkuth]

I think it will be exceedingly funny if it turns out that there is an afterlife of some description. So many who believed in the wrong sort of afterlife will be badly shocked when they realise that they spent their entire lives deluding themselves.

That's exactly why i don't subscribe to any particular version of an afterlife. If it happens, I'd like the details to be a surprise, which I think it would have to be. Since there are so many competing versions, I just don't see how any of them can make the claim that their's is the correct one.

 

[JihadJane]

I don't want to die, either.

 

[fromdownunder]

That's exactly why i don't subscribe to any particular version of an afterlife. If it happens, I'd like the details to be a surprise, which I think it would have to be. Since there are so many competing versions, I just don't see how any of them can make the claim that their's is the correct one.

I agree, except I will be very disappointed if it turns out that I missed out on the 72 virgins (houris, actually).

Norm

 

[Foolmewunz]

Never underestimate the power of a good Show Tune:

I gets weary and sick of trying,
I'm tired of living but I'm scared of dying,

(but Ol' Man River, he just keeps rolling along.)


I'm also scared of not living. I know that after death there's nothing and I'm not worried about that part, but there are so many wondrous things in this world that I haven't seen or done, that I just know that I won't get them all done before my time has come and gone.

 

[aggle-rithm]

Why worry about death? It's not going to happen in your lifetime.

 

[aggle-rithm]

But the fact is, we don't know. We "live," and then we don't. What's to worry about? It's out of our control. This Earth/Universe spawned us. Call it whatever you like, but we don't know, in the scientific sense, why this happens. So what? Trust the process -- that is, after all, what nearly all religions are about.


M.

One of the things that helps me is that a lot of what we believe about life and death is cultural, and therefore arbitrary. For instance, the idea that we are here for a purpose and that we have only a certain number of years to accomplish it, or to somehow make our mark on the world so we will be remembered, is a Western conceit. Other cultures don't see it that way at all.

It would really take a lot of pressure off if we could let go of such beliefs. It would also completely change our view about death when we no longer believe that everything we do is for some greater purpose that transcends the natural world.

It's OK to just live.

 

[Miss_Kitt]

I am coming up on a "landmark" birthday, and I have more thoughts about my own mortality now. Many of them are of the, "I want to be sure I live to see..." variety (my daughter's graduation, her college graduation, her wedding, my grandkid(s), etc.)

But ultimately, we don't know if we're going to live to 102 or die in 20 minutes. We only know that either is possible. So the challenge--and the zest--of living is to try to balance between short and long term goals. You need to enjoy the journey; but you also want to be sure you don't end up regretting that you didn't plan ahead.

All jobs have days you don't love it, but by all means find a job that is inherently rewarding. I like jobs where I have puzzles to solve and challenges to meet on a weekly, or (if I'm lucky) daily basis. You spend more time working than anything else in your life, so by all means find a job that gives you pleasure in the doing and satisfaction in what you have accomplished.

Do take the time to smell the roses; to notice the first bright green leaflets pushing out from the bare branches of trees; to admire the sunset's colors over the mountains; to smile back at small children when you walk by them. Tell the people you love that you love them while they can hear it. Donate money or time to something that you think is wonderful and is not just your personal life--it is very rewarding. It doesn't have to be any big deal, just occasionally reflect that you are luckier than many, and do something for those less lucky. Or something for the future, like helping make decisions on a future park or donating to a zoo or museum...there are lots of options.

Life is to be lived! One of my favorite characters said that he didn't believe in an afterlife because he was comforted by thought that this life was "not a rehearsal". (Gregory House, MD) That's how I look at the issue of mortality and the lack of an afterlife. This life--your precious, unpredictable stay on the planet Earth--is what you have, and it is a matchless opportunity.

Every year on my birthday, I'm able to say, "I like myself more than I did last year." I live so that when I stop to reflect on it, I'm overall proud of who I am and what I've done. Sure, there are things I want to improve; but that gives me the chance to grow and change and explore, and achieve.

I am not looking forward to dying, but I hope to face death with courage, curiosity, and what dignity I can muster. Until that hour, I want to face life with courage, curiosity, and as much dignity as I can fit around remembering to have fun!

Best wishes, Miss Kitt

 

[I Ratant]

Never underestimate the power of a good Show Tune:

I gets weary and sick of trying,
I'm tired of living but I'm scared of dying,

(but Ol' Man River, he just keeps rolling along.)


I'm also scared of not living. I know that after death there's nothing and I'm not worried about that part, but there are so many wondrous things in this world that I haven't seen or done, that I just know that I won't get them all done before my time has come and gone.

,
But until you die, there's always something new every day to learn about and appreciate!
The wonders of the world will outlive you, and strike awe in those that follow, and those that follow them, ad infinitum.
.
And another tune...
"I did it MY way!"

 

[I Ratant]

News flash as I was typing the previous..
"Woman is violently attacked after jumping into a polar bear enclosure during feeding time."
Who coulda expected that?
There's ALWAYS something new coming along!