Does the thought of death make you unhappy over and over again?

That death can crawl upon us in the twinkling of an eye is a fact we all must acknowledge. We by and large become unwary and live fully and vigorously forgetting that death is there in its full shape and size. This is an idea of immortality but when we come upon a dead body or read it in print or watch it on TV the thought gnaws us. When I hold a high rank or become outstandingly successful this depresses me. A thought of meaningless rocks me. I do not know whether I must turn to God seeking immortality or find a meaning in the idea of living. W hen I see a beautiful woman, young and mellow, the idea that she too will be outgrown by time and will be inflicted torments me. With that said I do not mean I am affirming my sainthood. No I am doing everything, carrying the burden of life with the rest of my compeers but the thought is always at large.

Do you forget death and live a fuller and merrier life all the while?

I don't actively worry about something so inevitable, I'm not built that way. I tend to think that I will ponder it more as I get closer to it, and if I die suddenly before it is expected then worrying about that beforehand wouldn't have changed anything, anyway.


I worry more about the death of loved ones, particularly my partner in life, I can't imagine the world without her in it.

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Originally Posted by blazeofglory

Do you forget death and live a fuller and merrier life all the while?

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Nope, I remember death and live a fuller and merrier life all the while.

Growing old depresses me a bit but that's it.
It is not my own death that makes me unhappy it's thinking about the death of people I love.
(Last year my father died and it really hurt, so I am afraid of my mother's death because my relation to her is even better than it was to my father).

I wish I never was born so why should I be afraid of vanishing again?

Best regards

Nope, not at all.

"I know I was born and I know that I'll die, the in between is mine"

Painful diseases scare me, though.

I don't think of death as an unhappy event. I know that i wouldn't like to die in absolute terror. so I guess how I will die concerns me more than when I die.

I'm inclined to side with Bach that transient life is innately tragic:

'What is man that Thou art mindful of him?' (Psalm 8)

Bach(J.S.) Piano Concerto No.3 2M Perahia

It's inevitable, but it is still a scary prospect. I imagine it is difficult to remain calm faced with death, or the gradual decline of your body.

I think ignoring it is unhelpful. Coming to terms with it, and using it to motivate the better part of yourself might be a good strategy.

For some - people with a lot of pain etc, it's clearly a relief - for the relatives too - though I don't mean that in a horrible way, but in the sense that watching a loved one suffer isn't nice.

My wife has nursed a number of people whowere dying. She always remembers a lady who died very peacefully with a calm mind. It made a great impression on her. I think that would be a good aspiration - for yourself and those around you. How you achieve this is the question though.

I watched my father die and it was most beautiful experience and if asked to do it again, I would. I learned how love is so much more powerful than fear.

There are some horrible ways to die that I wouldn't want to experience. Luckily, I'm trying my hardest to be dead by 40 so as to avoid those.

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

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Originally Posted by MarkBastable

Nope, I remember death and live a fuller and merrier life all the while.

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I like this.

(Picturing Mark jumping up and down with joy because I like his philosophy.)

Once that death has stared at your eyes you will not escape it, no matter how deep in the ground is the hole you dig to hide yourself. It will inevitably find us all. However, it must be a chilly sensation when it's getting nearer and nearer. I believe the most heartbreaking feeling must be to realize it has found you, and it will not give you some more time to finish what you consider to be your pending matters.

quick! everyone write their bucket list

1. visit Auschwitz

2. Get a reliably suitable wife, and have an epic journey with her all around the world... before the bucket comes to be kicked :p

3. watch the birth of my grandchildren

It can do sometimes.

I'll be pondering like I always do when not reading or learning and I'll think "I can't take this knowledge with me, what is the point in the time and expense spent in becoming more erudite and cerebral? It's all lost in the big wooden box along with me."

But then I think 'existence comes before essence'
To make my life meaningful and livable I must make those choices, create those projects for myself and practice those activities which have a purpose for me. Death may be one of the few absolute truths that exist but life is what I make of it. If I can carve an existence where I can be influential during my lifetime and after I'm gone, then that is the goal I will pursue in order to cope with the apparent absurdism of existence.

I think things in each of our stage sin life help to stave off the thought and fear of death.

Marriage, children, retirement are all joys in the average person's life that helps them live for the now and not look to the grave.

I think it's the years when we are widowed and forlorn as our kids have lives of their own that we begin to seriously contemplate our mortality.

But then again I'm only 24, what do I know.

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Originally Posted by Patrick_Bateman

It can do sometimes.

I'll be pondering like I always do when not reading or learning and I'll think "I can't take this knowledge with me, what is the point in the time and expense spent in becoming more erudite and cerebral? It's all lost in the big wooden box along with me."

But then I think 'existence comes before essence'
To make my life meaningful and livable I must make those choices, create those projects for myself and practice those activities which have a purpose for me. Death may be one of the few absolute truths that exist but life is what I make of it. If I can carve an existence where I can be influential during my lifetime and after I'm gone, then that is the goal I will pursue in order to cope with the apparent absurdism of existence.

I think things in each of our stage sin life help to stave off the thought and fear of death.

Marriage, children, retirement are all joys in the average person's life that helps them live for the now and not look to the grave.

I think it's the years when we are widowed and forlorn as our kids have lives of their own that we begin to seriously contemplate our mortality.

But then again I'm only 24, what do I know.

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I found becoming aware that I'd probably lived half of my life made the advent of death a realistic proposal different to the a simple awareness of death. Being able to appreciate the actual duration of your maximum lifespan brings it home somewhat. Prior to this it's a bit of an unknown. I remain cheerful though.
:biggrin5:

I kind of follow the Monty Python philosophy of "You come from nothing and go back to nothing- what have you lost?"

Life is free. Whatever I get out of it is more than I have any right to expect. I'm supposed to get upset that it won't last forever? I'll keep away from my gift horse's mouth and just appreciate that I've got it at all.

And maybe, just maybe, part of the reason I write is from a misdirected idea that it will make me live forever. The idea that my writing will live on after my death, preventing me from ever really disappearing. The idea that Plato, Shakespeare and Bach never really died because their ideas are still alive, they're still manipulating reality, and isn't that what life really is? Maybe that helps me deal with it as well.

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Originally Posted by blazeofglory

Do you forget death and live a fuller and merrier life all the while?

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Forgetting it all the time would be hard, for a number of reeasons: Part of my work involves safety issues, and the importance of doing things the correct way in order to avoid ending your life prematurely. I have found myself in life threatening situations and been lucky enough to be able to walk away from them relatively unscathed. I have also watched friends and relatives passing away. As a consequence I have the good sense to value life immensely, but at the same time I cannot say that I ponder or fear death as such ...much ...yet.

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Originally Posted by MarkBastable

Nope, I remember death and live a fuller and merrier life all the while.

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Well said. I fully agree.

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Originally Posted by OrphanPip

There are some horrible ways to die that I wouldn't want to experience.

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Exactly. It is the small matter of passing from the living to the dead that can be a bit unnerving.

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Originally Posted by OrphanPip

Luckily, I'm trying my hardest to be dead by 40 so as to avoid those.

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I think you may have changed your mind about that when you reach my age.:wink5:

/Claes

:party:

I thought I would be dead by 25...30...35...40...45...50...55.

60??????

Dying doesn't bother me very much at all. Suffering does, though. When I was flying, the thought of getting killed wasn't much of a big deal, but the thought of serious injury, of being maimed, was. Worse, in my humble opinion, is the thought of being alone.

So long as I exist, death is of no concern to me.

Maybe it is my ego but I have a hard time wrapping my mind around nothing. From an individual perspective there was nothing before I was born, and there will be nothing when I die. The universe will cease to exist.
Will there be, through the endless eons of time, another gathering of molecules that make another me? Or is this it? Could we be destine to repeat this very same life over and over?

I have thought about the possibilities.

If there were a replicator that could replicate my body perfectly, and someone pin-pricked him, would I feel it?

I've come very close to death twice, and now it holds no terrors for me, nor do I get depressed thinking about it. When it comes, it will come. No need to lose sleep over it.

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Originally Posted by Jassy Melson

I've come very close to death twice, and now it holds no terrors for me, nor do I get depressed thinking about it. When it comes, it will come. No need to lose sleep over it.

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Besides...We will have plenty of time to sleep after we are dead.

I've got people who are close to me with chronic health problems (young people too, one of them's only 27). The idea that one day I'll wake up and find them dead pops into my head and ruins my day pretty often. As for me dying, it used to bother me but now it doesn't for some reason.