Fear of death.

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smokefree
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Fear of death.

Post by smokefree » 28 Jul 2006 01:25

I saw a thread about what someone thought when happens after death, this isnt about whats after. Lately ive been thinking about death... it creates a panic in me.. I remind myself I still have to live my life and i am young at the moment.... but knowing that it is innevitable, that one day everyone and everything i know will pass makes this fear stick with me and its kind of effecting my life, it effects my mood, what i do each day, and brings me down.
I know its important to enjoy the now, plan for the future, but the ultimate fear of the unknown is somewhat consuming, this thread wasnt made to be emo or angsty it was more of what others thought about this, if others have the same problem.
Its something that I just needed to ask someone about I feel comfortable talking to the footbag community. I used to have strong faith which helped me not worry so much, but then I took a history of art class and started looking at life from the future tense. And then the theories of evolution, the distortion of my religion throughout history, the bad things in the world, overall science slowly robbed my of my conviction and now im very confused about the subject of death. Not thinking there is a happy afterlife or something comfortable to look forward to is very scary.
Sorry about the post being so long but these thoughts have been building for too long over the last few months.
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Post by JoFa » 28 Jul 2006 16:03

I can't say a lot on this subject without getting preachy - which is not what I want to do on modified - but in my opinion, the only part of death to fear is the pain. A painless passing is a peaceful thing, which doesn't scare me at all. Drowning, being buried alive - those things scare me.

Death is a huge subject for discussion though. All fears and phobias stem from death. Kind of crazy if you think about it...
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Post by pips » 28 Jul 2006 16:53

Sometimes I make up scenes in my head of me or a close family member or friend dying a painful death like JoFa said. I guess I just snap out of it and continue what I was doing. It scares me too, but I try not to worry about it. Only a few of the many really bothered me and ruined the day or week.
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Post by gangsta » 28 Jul 2006 18:47

"I feel most alive
confronting death, experiencing pain.

I think you're most alive
recognizing beauty,

seeing truth.

Does death turn you on?
You love death?

Life hurts a lot more.
When you die, the pain's over."
-Jim Morrison

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Post by smokefree » 28 Jul 2006 21:43

It just gets to me sometimes when im laying there at night. Or sitting down in the middle of the day thinking. What im really scared of is when im growing old and im losing my parents and everyone i know...
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Post by Iron Clad Ben » 28 Jul 2006 21:52

Everybody's gonna die some way
One day I will be dead
But I'll keep kickin' until that day
Gonna rip, gonna fuckin' shred 8)

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Post by QuantumBalance » 28 Jul 2006 22:30

When I look into Ashleys eyes and think about her dying I cry uncontrollably. We make promises that if one of us dies, or both, that we'll do everything, claw our way to each other. If there is a chance.

Maybe we shoudl read some old Samurai books, I hear they werent so afraid of death?

Doing drugs sort of brings you closer to death in a way. But, I don't recomend that. I have been a drug addict for so long. Its pretty much the worst thing ever.

They only thing you can do to combat death is live, I suppose. If you want to do something but dont cuz you are afraid, I think you are asking for death.

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Post by sen » 28 Jul 2006 22:33

I am not afraid of Death.

I don't want to Die.

But I am not afraid of it.

I know that when I am dead, I will not be concious.

No suffering.

No feelings.

Then happiness will come later.

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Post by BainbridgeShred » 28 Jul 2006 22:42

Sometimes death gets me, but it's never been something that's effected me that much. When family friends or people I know die, I just find it hard to feel effected. It just doesn't sound that bad really. It's just another stage, whatever it is. I have faith that God has good things planned for me and everyone I love after we've all expired.

I dunno. My brother just enlisted into Army Air, and with troops levels going up to 135,000 in Iraq; and tours going back and forth between Afghanistan, my opinion on everything might change in a few months.
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Post by smokefree » 29 Jul 2006 08:09

I dont know why but death usually only effects me when I knew the person well. As for death of masses, i watch the news, it numbs you to everything, a few years ago i might of teared up/cryed at a lot of things, now i just look and think.. how fucked up man.
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Post by Seath » 29 Jul 2006 08:19

Death is a hefty topic.

It is neccisary though. Death puts your life into perspective, it's how we relate to time.

I'm a firm believer that there's more to my existence than my material body and mind, and I also tend to believe that my existence post-mordem will be a more complete truthful existence. Humanity as a species is still pretty primitive, and I don't think we will exist long enough to fully understand what means to exist. I like to have hope that when we separate from our material selves we lose alot of constraints associated with perceiving existence through this body.

I guess it's not worth worrying about because it's inevitable, whatever awaits us when it happens is beyond our control so it's not really important to brood on the subject IMO.
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Post by james_dean » 29 Jul 2006 17:15

whatever awaits us when it happens is beyond our control
Not necessarily.


There's no reason to fear death for me because I know full well where I'm going and it's a good place. But I'm weak and I do fear death. There's a lot I want to do on this world even though I realise I won't miss it if I die before I can.


I also don't believe humans were made to die. Things got messed up. But it doesn't mean our soul has to.
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Post by smokefree » 29 Jul 2006 21:10

I think if we all dedicated our time to science we would find a way to live to be 200 within the next 50 years. Not like its going to happen but its an interesting thought, if everyone used their brain for good.
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Post by JoFa » 29 Jul 2006 21:41

I think one of the major reasons death doesn't scare me is also because my father died when I was nine of lung cancer. It impacted me pretty hardly, but I soon realized that it was just another stage. The idea of others close to me dying doesn't really scare me anymore, and many think I'm cold because of it. Rather, I've simply come to face the facts. My mom will die too - what difference will 15 years make in the eternal perspective? Now or later, we'll all die. It's just one stage of existence.
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Post by Moxie » 30 Jul 2006 02:16

smokefree wrote:I think if we all dedicated our time to science we would find a way to live to be 200 within the next 50 years. Not like its going to happen but its an interesting thought, if everyone used their brain for good.
I'll go ahead and disagree that it would be using their brains for good. They might be good intentions, but as overpopulation goes up all over the world, our natural resources are going down all over the world and quality of life starts going down. Death at age 80 will start to seem reasonable. Yes, that's 20-40 years less than I might be able to live, but in that situation I need to think about the bigger picture.




I probably have about 20 years until my parents die. That's my whole lifetime thus far. And I wasn't even fully functioning for almost a quarter of that time. There is a lot of time left to be with the people you love and do the things you want to do.

I don't welcome death, but I do not fear it.

smokefree wrote:I used to have strong faith which helped me not worry so much, but then ... the theories of evolution, the distortion of my religion throughout hid things in the world, overall science slowly robbed my of my conviction and now im very confused about the subject of death. Not thinking there is a happy afterlife or something comfortable to look forward to is very scary.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that science robbed you of your conviction. If you hadn’t allowed it, it wouldn’t have happened. It does sound like you’re going through a confusing time.

I have heard a few atheists talk about their fear of death. That fear makes a lot of sense if there is no God, no afterlife, nothing else besides this world. Just life here on earth then that's it. "That's it" makes it sound so small and useless. It’s not short, and if I get to live to age 65 I’ll be SO happy. The idea of being stuck somewhere alone in the dark for all eternity would be scary. The thought that I might end up burning for all eternity sound pretty awful. The idea that I’m going to die and not exist anymore sounds peaceful. It’s not ideal, but it’s what I believe is reality.

I don’t feel like I have much of a point to this post or like I said what I wanted to say. I use it all the time, but I’ll end with what is probably my favorite quote ever:
“As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.”
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Post by james_dean » 30 Jul 2006 05:20

That's a good quote.

The idea that existence ends at death is not one I like. But only because thus far I've believed in eternity in heaven, which would be a bummer to miss out on. If I hadn't had this belief and there was no existence after death then it would neither here nor there.

"when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not." - Epicurus
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Post by bluntobj3ct » 30 Jul 2006 13:02

death is quite an interesting subject. i mean nobody can speak authoritively about it, so its all speculation.

the idea of a christian death (ie our material life is only a precursor to our real eternal life) is somewhat idealistic in my current point of view. i wish i could believe in that completely however a lack of evidence other than a bunch of people trying to convince me only tells me that its all bullshit.

death isnt something that should be feared for the SOLE reason that its inevitable. EVERY SINGLE PERSON who's ever existed has experienced (or not experienced, whatever ;)) death at the end of their life. its somewhat childish to think that death results in pain or pleasure or any one of our simple-ass emotions. how can you believe that our limited knowledge of this universe and this life is even enough to come CLOSE to understanding something as complex as death.

we can only see, hear, smell, taste, and feel... are you going to tell me thats all there is to experience in this vast existence???? fuuuckkk thats more depressing than anything else you could ever say. what we take to be the world around us is so much more complex than our weak ass brains can even contain. theres so much more out there that we will never "see" to put it simply. experience in and of itself is limited to our six elementary senses... who fucking knows.

death can only be two things, philosophically:

pleasant or excrutiating... right? i mean unless theres some grey area...

so since we have no way of EVER knowing exactly what it is, its really quite a waste of time to worry about what it WILL BE like. live for now. experience ALL that you can. notice every detail of your life while its in front of you, anything less is simply a waste. slow down, take a look around, that stupid saying "stop and smell the roses" is sooooooooo true.

if you dont, you never did, and the one thing thats for sure is life as we know it is fleeting. look around yourself, HEAR around yourself, FEEL the air on your skin, TASTE the air on your tongue, the food in your mouth, SMELL the summer breeze, LOOK at all the pretty colors around you at every second... NOTICE what direction the wind is blowing and how warm it is outside. thats living...


why wonder? just experience
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Post by smokefree » 30 Jul 2006 13:15

bluntobj3ct wrote: why wonder? just experience
Are you telling me to off myself? Jk. Anyway, I think humans are too into themselves... we focus ourselves as masters of the earth and the only beings that have souls (well society does sometimes I mean) what is your opinion on souls of other beings like animals? It makes me think thousands of insects die all the time, and we think nothing of it, it makes me start to respect buddhism for their respect of all life. The scary part is thinking of non existance, also the concept of bliss or misery in the afterlife doesn't seem quite right. Personally Ive been thinking about reincarnation and I think it makes the most sense, whether some force makes you an ant, a blade of grass, a star, or a human being, I used to think of it as being born as another person but there are too many creatures in the universe, unless they of course do not have souls... eh im confusing myself here.
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Post by C-Fan » 31 Jul 2006 05:26

I used to really hate saying goodbyes, until I met a really cool girl on the plane. Its a long story, but if not for a whole slew of random occurences (our flight being delayed til the next day, me not having money to pay the "exit fee" at the airport, etc), I would have never met her. Because of the situation, we had a nice dinner, and the next day got seats together on the plane. We spent the next 10+ hours talking and drinking, and it was the most pleasant flight I`d ever had. When we had to say goodbye, I felt sad for a minute, until I realized: we could just as easily have never met. That thought made me appreciate that we got to share some good time together. Instead of feeling sad that the time was over, I felt happy that I got to experience it in the first place.

I don`t know what happens after death, just as I don`t know what came before life. Do we have a purpose in life or not? Similar to my plane situation, I find it comforting/more useful to view life as a bonus, a free credit, a gift... rather than fear death. If I die tomorrow, I won`t be sad that I "only" lived 26 years. I`ll be happy that I got to enjoy 26 years (9 playing footbag!). That`s a lot more than a lot of other people get.

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Post by james_dean » 31 Jul 2006 19:39

C-Fan wrote:I don`t know what happens after death, just as I don`t know what came before life. Do we have a purpose in life or not? Similar to my plane situation, I find it comforting/more useful to view life as a bonus, a free credit, a gift... rather than fear death. If I die tomorrow, I won`t be sad that I "only" lived 26 years. I`ll be happy that I got to enjoy 26 years (9 playing footbag!). That`s a lot more than a lot of other people get.
That's an awesome way to live life. I need to start living like that, not just towards death but everything. Thanks.
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