When did the realization that you will one day die really sink in?

Cartouche

Is there any point to our existence without the belief in some form of afterlife?
Or when your dead, your dead, forever. Whats the point to anything then ?

eviltwin

It's Christmas, come on!!!!!

/thread!

xzanti

You're*

zeroliner

Cartouche wrote: »

Is there any point to our existence without the belief in some form of afterlife?
Or when your dead, your dead, forever. Whats the point to anything then ?

have a **** and eat a crunchie

Fr_Dougal

No, you're a towel.

zeroliner

xzanti wrote: »

You're*

Yes

Learn grammar before you gift yourself to the after life OP

gizmo555

The day my 1st son was born and I realised, OK, this is my replacement . . .

Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.
Peter Ustinov, 1921-2004

zeroliner

gizmo555 wrote: »

The day my 1st son was born and I realised, OK, this is my replacement . . .

Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.
Peter Ustinov, 1921-2004

I feel blessed

The_Valeyard

Cartouche wrote: »

Is there any point to our existence without the belief in some form of afterlife?
Or when your dead, your dead, forever. Whats the point to anything then ?

42

Fleawuss

I'm eating Christmas cake.

Esel

I plan to die one night.

Danzy

My father died earlier this year, we were all there, it was a breath in and a long breath out, that was all death was, one breath that just went out, sobering realization that life is just a breath at a time.

faceman

Best bit of motivation anyone can get in life is that you're going to die.

Tom Mann Centuria

See death at work at least once a month so that gave me a hint people die. Sometimes lovely and peaceful, sometimes not.

I don't believe in God but do like to think there might be something after death (probably because it's a nicer way of thinking of it). The celebrant who did my dad's funeral called himself a spiritual atheist which is a nice way of putting it.

Happy Christmas.

The_Valeyard

Esel wrote: »

I plan to die one night.

If you lucky.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I was sitting on a piece of machinery on a tractor, being joyridden by my younger brother a few years ago. He hit a bump in the ground at speed, and my right leg ended up being caught under the bale lifter as the pin holding it in flew out. It dragged me on a little bit before my brother realised there was a man down. In those few seconds I was certain I would die. Then as they got the lifter off me, my foot had a mind of its own, it was pointing off in the wrong direction. Then thoughts of me dying were put on the back burner as i was sure they'd amputate my foot. The ambulance men came, put me in a splint made from a blanket and gave me gas on the way to the hospital. I was so hysterical in a+e about them not chopping my foot off, telling them it was ok if it didn't point in the right direction, that they sedated me.

Drama Queen til the bitter end

Danzy

Cartouche wrote: »

Is there any point to our existence without the belief in some form of afterlife?
Or when your dead, your dead, forever. Whats the point to anything then ?

If you truly realized what death is and how it will greet you one day, you would not think it all pointless but how every moment was a rare and precious gift and what troubles you in life is what is meaningless.

If you want to move past the gloom of death then I advise you to look at Zen meditation. The freedom to just be, in that very moment we have now. The relief from the tension, stress, fear, depression, guilt etc that can be all consuming and burns us out.

You'll be surprised how even a little practice can lighten your mind so that you can live rather than worry or wonder and how easy it is to change. I did years ago and from a very dark place where there was no future for me.

jester77

I'm having a nice chocolate bock beer on the couch. It's the little things that make life worth it.

Rubberlegs

I think I probably had that realisation when my Dad died, the sense of being the next generation I suppose. It took the fear out of dying for me too, over in just one breath.

Danzy

73Cat wrote: »

I think I probably had that realisation when my Dad died, the sense of being the next generation I suppose. It took the fear out of dying for me too, over in just one breath.

A natural flow to things, hard as it is, and it is ****ing hard.

B.A._Baracus

gizmo555 wrote: »

The day my 1st son was born and I realised, OK, this is my replacement . . .

Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.
Peter Ustinov, 1921-2004

Interviewer: "So how many kids do you have Mr Ustinov?"
Ustinov: "me? **** no, none, don't want any of the little bastards"

gw80

gizmo555 wrote: »

The day my 1st son was born and I realised, OK, this is my replacement . . .

Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.
Peter Ustinov, 1921-2004

It may be even more detached then that,
In his book The selfish gene, Richard Dawkins reckons that it's the genes themselves that want to live on and that we (humans) and every other life form are just vessels for these genes to use to go forth nd multiply
Kinda makes sense when you think about it, the obsession we have with sex, nearly everything we do revolves around it,

quadrifoglio verde

At 21 I went to Paris and didn't tell anyone. I had quite important college exams two weeks later and knew the parents would murder me if they knew I was going.
Friend asked would I not think of telling them. Told him if I died I wouldn't be around for the consequences.
It was then that I realised that I'm not really afraid of dying and won't let the risk of death stop me from doing things that I enjoy or want to do.
Not fearing death has changed my life for the better!

I'd ideally like to die sometime in my late 70s from a heart attack. The last thing I want is to spend two years battling cancer in my 80s, or 10 years in a nursing home in my 90s having buried all my friends, being fed through a tube and pissing through a bag. I'd sooner be put down like a dog than go through that.

That's the thing though when they go on about not putting a rake of butter on your spuds adds X amount of years to your life. They always fail to mention that you don't get to relive your twenties again but that those extra years are extra years rotting away in a nursing home.

Death is inevitable and the sooner you accept it and stop fearing it, the sooner you start enjoying life! Yes dying sucks for those you leave behind, but again, you won't be there.

Anyway, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure

The flying mouse

Not afraid of dying, not at all. don't know what happens when you die, no one does, I will just go with the flow...

73Cat

73Cat wrote: »

I think I probably had that realisation when my Dad died, the sense of being the next generation I suppose. It took the fear out of dying for me too, over in just one breath.

I think the same sort of thing happened to me with a close family member. You really confront your own mortality when someone you love dies. I don't think it's the first time I really understood death, I did before.

I think it was the first time I really understood finality, the meaning of never. I would never, ever, see her again. It's also the first time I wished I really believed in an after life.

The purpose of life is simple, to survive and reproduce. It's the same for all animals, it's just us humans that have complicated things with our expectations and quest for meaning.

Saipanne

Close friend of mine was stabbed to death at age 17. At his grave. Right then.

When my sister lost her one month old!

catbear

When I was 8 our teacher was showing us a diagram of New Grange and something about the burial chamber hit me, that some day I too would be just flesh that would rot, my bones would be ground up and placed somewhere, perhaps to be blown away by the breeze....it was realising that it didn't matter what I thought of death, it would happen anyway. Something innocent died then.

When I was 16 i felt death when I lost a friend in a car crash. numbness for days and weeks afterwards.

In recent years I've watched both parents pass on, to their last breathes. In both cases their vitality had passed long before.

The older I get the more I live in the moment.

One day I'll die but the only thing I fear is being stuck in an old folks ward beside some ****er who likes Irish country and western music or what ever joe Duffy type misery moaning media is popular then. I'd kill him and I'd actually feel like I'd have made the universe a better place for what remained of my time.

Avatar MIA

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

That's the thing though when they go on about not putting a rake of butter on your spuds adds X amount of years to your life. They always fail to mention that you don't get to relive your twenties again but that those extra years are extra years rotting away in a nursing home.

I heard the same think from a smoker, but especially in the case of heavy smokers, they bring the shít years earlier. They may not have to suffer into their 90s, but most likely feel at 60 what a non smoking 80 year old feels like health wise. A massive generalisation, I know.

failinis

When I was told I might have a deadly illness and still waiting to see if that is what it is.
Makes you realise everything might not be okay for long but the worst the wait between life and death.

Or when my cousins child was stillborn and seeing her hold the little thing at the wake house.

Never been with someone when they have died but I am very thankful both my parents are alive and quite healthy.

jimmy blevins

"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."
- Gerry O'Driscoll

Snugglebunnies

Years ago I witnessed an old man get crushed by a truck. In that moment I realised that you can be here one minute and gone the next, life is extremely fragile. I didn't know the man but I often think of the incident.

skankkuvhima

Every now and then it his me and I nearly throw up, then I either put it out of my head or I drink

catbear

Another time we were backpacking in asia were deciding which way to head next, east to cambodia or south to the thai islands. We were set on going to ko phi phi but a bunch of other backpackers warned us it would be full of drunk aussies on their xmas holidays.

We went to cambodia. I flicked on the TV early in the morning to see the first report of an earthquake come in, then later there was something about a wave hitting pattong and there being fatalities.

the hours passed by and the news of more beach resorts being hit kept coming in, then the terrible news from indonesia came. We'd been drinking in bangkok with others who said they'd be heading down that way.

I headed to an internet cafe to email my brothers to let everyone know we're safe but it was weird to overhear people skyping without any reference to the disaster.

it was really numbing. Two days later a couple arrived at our guesthouse who still hadn't heard of the disaster, it was weird telling them 300,000 were probably dead and there could be people they know involved too.

Over the next few months we'd meet other backpackers who'd been there. One swedish guy who was flown out of pluket told me how no one said a single word on the packed jet, it was totally quiet. As he said this I could see the goosebumps come up on his arms. that was all he could talk about. he'd been there, he'd seen it happen.

Life felt like such a fragile thing right then. I arrived back in property bubble ireland listening to people panicking about not getting on some imaginary ladder and i never truly settled back into our own little safe quiet corner of the world.

Just another memory of that event. We arrived back in Bangkok in late february and on the railings of the police station on the corner of the Koi San road there were loads of photos of body tattoos of victims that hadn't been identified yet. It was weird to confront the enormity of the loss of life.

Cartouche

skankkuvhima wrote: »

Every now and then it his me and I nearly throw up, then I either put it out of my head or I drink

Its like the video to the Radiohead song (think its Just), when people all lie down after the man tells them something

Reati

Cartouche wrote: »

Whats the point to anything then ?

OP, if you have thoughts like this a lot, try having a chat with somone like the Samaritans on 116 123 or your GP.

bgr123

Cartouche wrote: »

Is there any point to our existence without the belief in some form of afterlife?
Or when your dead, your dead, forever. Whats the point to anything then ?

Live life be happy and hope for the best.Happy Xmas.

gw80

jimmy blevins wrote: »

"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."
- Gerry O'Driscoll

Breath in the air, don't be afraid to care

skankkuvhima

Cartouche wrote: »

Its like the video to the Radiohead song (think its Just), when people all lie down after the man tells them something

Honestly, it hits me hard a few times a week, if I hadn't learnt to put it out of my mind I'd have killed myself :-)

skankkuvhima

skankkuvhima wrote: »

Honestly, it hits me hard a few times a week, if I hadn't learnt to put it out of my mind I'd have killed myself :-)

Reati wrote: »

OP, if you have thoughts like this a lot, try having a chat with somone like the Samaritans on 116 123 or your GP.

I don't mean to be nosey, but that sounds like an awful burden. Reati's advice to the OP might be helpful to you too.

skankkuvhima

Candie wrote: »

I don't mean to be nosey, but that sounds like an awful burden. Reati's advice to the OP might be helpful to you too.

Ah no, I'm well use to it, I genuinely love life, I just don't want it to end. But the thought of dying is tough to grasp, I'm not the only one

One_Of_Shanks

I think that once you're gone that's it and we're kidding ourselves to think different.

We're the same as the other animals on the planet, aside from having higher intelligence and just look how far that got us.
We're destructive nasty gits by and large.

I often think that if it was quick and painless I wouldn't mind going. But I wouldn't want that due to the hurt it would cause to my family.

And before anyone says it, no i don't need a shrink. It's just about accepting that you're mortal and you have to go sometime and the novelty wore off for me in my twenties.
So now it's all about work, paying bills, etc... interspersed with occasional highs that fade back to normality again.

It's all a bit meh!

Late teens and early twenties when you're so full of passion and everything is black and white and exciting and fresh, that's the stuff!

Esel

I want to die like my grandfather - peacefully while asleep, not screaming and roaring like his passengers did.

skankkuvhima

Candie wrote: »

I don't mean to be nosey, but that sounds like an awful burden. Reati's advice to the OP might be helpful to you too.

Hill Candie. It's nice to see some concern for some one on the Internet, it's nice!

One_Of_Shanks

Esel wrote: »

I want to die like my grandfather - peacefully while asleep, not screaming and roaring like his passengers did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vOXo_9iivQ

Widdershins

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

At 21 I went to Paris and didn't tell anyone. I had quite important college exams two weeks later and knew the parents would murder me if they knew I was going.
Friend asked would I not think of telling them. Told him if I died I wouldn't be around for the consequences.
It was then that I realised that I'm not really afraid of dying and won't let the risk of death stop me from doing things that I enjoy or want to do.
Not fearing death has changed my life for the better!

I'd ideally like to die sometime in my late 70s from a heart attack. The last thing I want is to spend two years battling cancer in my 80s, or 10 years in a nursing home in my 90s having buried all my friends, being fed through a tube and pissing through a bag. I'd sooner be put down like a dog than go through that.

That's the thing though when they go on about not putting a rake of butter on your spuds adds X amount of years to your life. They always fail to mention that you don't get to relive your twenties again but that those extra years are extra years rotting away in a nursing home.

Death is inevitable and the sooner you accept it and stop fearing it, the sooner you start enjoying life! Yes dying sucks for those you leave behind, but again, you won't be there.

Anyway, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure

A great post,but I just want to add that major decline is not inevitable with aging. Common, typical even, but not inevitable.

RonFan

What happens after you die is determined by how you live. You know your potential for bad dreams? The only thing keeping that stuff out is the brain barrier, when that is lifted at death and you fall in to the subtle aspects of the earth's atmosphere, in the so called astral sphere or domain, you experience the sum total of your "karma". It can be heavenly, but also hellish. It's just like a really intense dream that seems to go on forever. Once all the impressions you've picked up in this life time that are useless have burned out, you'll be ready for another birth. Don't fear death. The idea of it being the end is simply a myth that has made it's way into the common sense of westerners and does us no good. Expect to continue on in some form of another and you'll have more peace. I'm not advocating blind belief, rather just to be aware of the actual facts relating to the spiritual nature of reality.

catbear

RonFan wrote: »

What happens after you die is determined by how you live. You know your potential for bad dreams? The only thing keeping that stuff out is the brain barrier, when that is lifted at death and you fall in to the subtle aspects of the earth's atmosphere, in the so called astral sphere or domain, you experience the sum total of your "karma". It can be heavenly, but also hellish. It's just like a really intense dream that seems to go on forever. Once all the impressions you've picked up in this life time that are useless have burned out, you'll be ready for another birth. Don't fear death. The idea of it being the end is simply a myth that has made it's way into the common sense of westerners and does us no good. Expect to continue on in some form of another and you'll have more peace. I'm not advocating blind belief, rather just to be aware of the actual facts relating to the spiritual nature of reality.

nicely said.

I adhere to the old maxim "if you can exist in this life, then you can exist in any life".

IamtheWalrus

About 19 I think. Very stoned and having the best time of my life with friends. Everyone was laughing and joking and it struck me that one day I will die. It was quite shocking and I've had to battle that realisation for a while now but I use it as a spur to live rather than a oh no, it's all going to end.

Also, I find that the happier I am, the worse death seems but this past few years have been wretched so death to me seems very natural and untroublesome. Dying on the other hand, I'm not looking forward to.

RonFan

"Life after death" is a fact. I strongly believe this will become a common sense recognition within many of our life-times. The only reason it's not currently recognised as such is because of the narrow axioms of the current intellectual paradigm, the shifting of those axioms is already well underway although it may not look like it at the very surface. This will have massive and extremely positive ramifications for human life as we know it.