I don't. Come to think of it, I wonder which is better, believing that death isn't the end, or not having any fear of eternal damnation or other unpleasant consequences of one's actions while alive.
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For those of you that are around 50 YO and over - do you think about death?
- Thread starter EB1000
- Start date
I was 18 in 1991 and thanks to the Happy Monday’s can hardly remember a thing. More seriously though, there is something worse than death; missing the present. Buddhist meditation teachers have a saying-‘begin again’. It’s more profound than it seems. This isn’t a religious point; they mean you can attend to each moment with a new attitude and consider what came before to be just that. The end will come, but there is no past or future, just the present. Don’t miss it.Hi.
I know this might be a touchy subject, but in 6 weeks I will turn 49. Recently I just can't stop thinking about how little time I have left, even if I'll live to be 80.
Thirty years pass quickly. I remember 1990 as if it was yesterday. I wonder who do people who are older than me deal with the fact that life must stop at some point, which can happen very soon if you're over 60...
I even stopped adding more music to my 50k+ tracks library, because I know that I don't have much time left to listen to all my music collection and enjoy it more than once.
I've also became a health nut. I only eat low carb raw vegan food, which taste like cr@p. Luckily, I don't look anywhere near 49 (most people assume I'm 35ish). But still can't shake the thought that I'm on borrowed time.
To make things worse, I'm an agnostic atheist, so I'm unable to assure my self that I'll be going to a better place. The way I see it, when you die, you "feel" exactly the same as you felt in the 1800's...
sometimes I can't even fall asleep because I'm scared that I won't wake up in the morning (my doctor says that I have death anxiety and he proscribed me some Xanax, which I decided not to take after I read the possible side effects...)
How do you deal with this sad fact of life? How does it feel to be over 70, knowing you can go any day?
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My favourite poem related to this subject, Shelley of course:
I.
We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;
How restlessly they speed and gleam and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly! yet soon
Night closes round, and they are lost for ever:—
II.
Or like forgotten lyres whose dissonant strings
Give various response to each varying blast,
To whose frail frame no second motion brings
One mood or modulation like the last.
III.
We rest—a dream has power to poison sleep;
We rise—one wandering thought pollutes the day;
We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep,
Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:—
IV.
It is the same!—For, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free;
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
Nought may endure but Mutability.
I.
We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;
How restlessly they speed and gleam and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly! yet soon
Night closes round, and they are lost for ever:—
II.
Or like forgotten lyres whose dissonant strings
Give various response to each varying blast,
To whose frail frame no second motion brings
One mood or modulation like the last.
III.
We rest—a dream has power to poison sleep;
We rise—one wandering thought pollutes the day;
We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep,
Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:—
IV.
It is the same!—For, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free;
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
Nought may endure but Mutability.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
Getting older has been great for competing in my sport as I move up the age brackets and the competition gets smaller.
I'll turn 51 next month.
I'll turn 51 next month.
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I try to take reasonable care of my health, and observe Michael Pollan's rules for eating. But food needs to taste good, be affordable and reasonably convenient, else how is a person going to stick to any plan for long?
It's best not to get too hung up on the past, because there's less of it every day. But, the present is in plentiful supply.
I’m 57. My wife (56) was diagnosed with Lymphoma three years ago. She’s in remission now, but since then most of my mortality fears revolve around aging alone. In many ways, we are in a golden period - no real money worries, kids successfully launched, interesting careers. Inevitably, that makes you think it can only get worse. Alas, anything really worth having makes you spend some time worrying about losing it - you just have to remember that’s a form of appreciation and try to get back in the moment.
BillG
Major Contributor
The dying part doesn't concern me very much. Given my family's medical history, I'm unlikely to experience a prolonged ordeal and will just die peacefully within a week after multiple organ failure instead or in my sleep. If I happen to be awake at the time, it'll be like fainting - my vision will go white and then unconsciousness.
The not existing part saddens me, though, as I like the experience of living and witnessing life.
By the way, I'm an atheist and have no beliefs in an afterlife whatsoever. I'll no longer exist after death. Period. End of story.
I turn 60 next year.
The not existing part saddens me, though, as I like the experience of living and witnessing life.
By the way, I'm an atheist and have no beliefs in an afterlife whatsoever. I'll no longer exist after death. Period. End of story.
I turn 60 next year.
Seems like these days a lot of people are worried about what our ancestors did to each other.
Destination: Moon
Senior Member
Life is a sexually transmitted disease with 100% mortality. That’s it.
BillG
Major Contributor
"my doctor says that I have death anxiety and he proscribed me some Xanax..."
I'd suggest meditation (to the point of experiencing an ecstatic mental state) or a nice dose of LSD instead. If you decide on the latter, please do so in a peaceful environment, and with a trusted friend, if you've not done it before.
By the way, death anxiety isn't uncommon and people deal with it in many different ways:
[Terror Management Theory] proposes that a basic psychological conflict results from having a self-preservation instinct while realizing that death is inevitable and to some extent unpredictable. This conflict produces terror, which is managed through a combination of escapism and cultural beliefs that act to counter biological reality with more significant and enduring forms of meaning and value...
I'd suggest meditation (to the point of experiencing an ecstatic mental state) or a nice dose of LSD instead. If you decide on the latter, please do so in a peaceful environment, and with a trusted friend, if you've not done it before.
By the way, death anxiety isn't uncommon and people deal with it in many different ways:
[Terror Management Theory] proposes that a basic psychological conflict results from having a self-preservation instinct while realizing that death is inevitable and to some extent unpredictable. This conflict produces terror, which is managed through a combination of escapism and cultural beliefs that act to counter biological reality with more significant and enduring forms of meaning and value...
Smaller maybe but there's usually some awesome guy/gal older than you that can still easily kick yer butt
At least in cycling....
I am consoled in that humanity will go on and reach for the stars and further after I am dead and gone. It's a imperative and to see the great progress makes me comfortable.
That's presumptuous. You could live to be a ripe old age and live a healthy existence that enables you to enjoy your tunes and stuff so stop stressing about the small and big stuff. When a major upset event comes you'll know it and you'll wish you never stressed over the little upset events.
I am a atheist to the core after decades of deliberation. I've come to the conclusion that there is no supernatural being lording over us. You will have had your time here on starship earth with all the other captains and when the time comes you may be OK with it and maybe you won't be. The one thing we do know is one day it's coming so you best enjoy your tunes while you can.
I've had a weird hesitation and denial of falling to sleep too. I have found myself stretching the day's hours to ensure I am tired and sleepy before going to bed in the effort to avoid this denial hesitation thing. I've even found myself binge drinking on occasion to ensure I snooze. I've been prescribed meds too in the past, I secretly never took them and thankfully I didn't because they where found to cause heart failure. I've had near death experiences from motorcycle accidents, car accidents and a very nasty reaction to amoxicillin where I in a state of near unconsciousness said goodbye forever to the cute female ambulance attendant as if I was dying. I thought it would be the last face I ever saw. I learned from the accidents and near death experience that life is worth living day by day, year by year and longer and to enjoy the simple things, smell the roses and appreciate living more than worrying about dying.sometimes I can't even fall asleep because I'm scared that I won't wake up in the morning (my doctor says that I have death anxiety and he proscribed me some Xanax, which I decided not to take after I read the possible side effects...
Is "dieing" the process of creating a die?
Dying is indeed a process usually (it could be instantaneous and unfair otoh)
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Porn isn't the number one use on the interwebs for no reason.....I don't think death keeps up much with that particularly except for those idiots encouraging more of it.
Is "dieing" the process of creating a die?
Oops. Another senior moment.
Fixed(edit).
