I know I'm late to your party, but here's my advice. Enjoy!!!


NEVER EVER throw away your stash of dirty magazines and stuff you don't want people to see. If you NEVER EVER throw it away, the shame will keep you alive.


It's always good to have that one friend who will RUN TO YOUR HOME and throw away your dirty box of porno and filth if you -accidentally- die, so your beloved mother/wife/children won't see your shame, BUT

Do your ticker a favor and just leave that box of filth under your bed or wherever it is in the shop, and you'll live FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!

I think about it from time to time and the worst part is, now that I'm a little past 50, I know for sure that my life is easily more than half over and that alone is a sobering thought.

FWIW I will die at home in my bed overnight some night, and I just hope that I'll be in a situation where someone will find me quickly to make the cleanup bearable.

Seriously. That's the only part of it that I worry about. I'll be dead, and I don't have to maintain a legacy for any kids or spouse etc.

Very thoughtful of you, Gogar.

Personally: No. Got over it sometime in college and it's never really bothered me since then. It's inevitable, so you'd better get used to that concept. Of course, there are ways I'd rather NOT die, like drowning or fire, but it's gonna happen eventually.

Heck, there are times when sarcastically I think it might be a welcome respite from the worries and headaches of daily life.

My fear of death has less to do with the act of dying than it does with not being around to experience the pain and joy of watching my children and grandchildren (and with a bit of luck, some great-grandchildren) grow up and older.

_

I'm not afraid of dying. I just don't want to suffer.

I'm 51 and in a few months I'll be 52. I never thought I'd make it to 49. My dad passed at 49 years and 3 months due to complications from a stroke. At age 26, I was in a bad car wreck and spent 6 months in rehab. At 36, I had a stroke and needed to learn to walk, talk and think again. I never thought I'd live longer than my dad. Back in June, I was in the hospital in critical condition from of all things, food poisoning.

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Nope. Not worried. Already done it once on the operating table and came back. FWIW , no white light, no vestal virgins, can't say there's a God either.... YMMV.

Funny...same here. When I go, an operating table would be the place. Once I was put under, that was it...just blackness until I woke.

Fear? Not really. I'm 72, well aware that I had a pretty good run. Not sure I want to be around for the times I think are coming.

You can't let what happened to others rule your life. Just because that happened to them doesn't mean it will happen to you and the worst thing you can do is worry about it.

Beginning of March I nearly died of a heart attack. My MI was totally non-typical to the point of that night I drove myself to the hospital and parked in the 15 minute emergency parking space because I didn't believe I could be having a MI and with 29 years as a EMT I have seen various MIs in all sorts of people. No history. Had a EKG two weeks before the event and nothing showed up on it. Lived what I considered a healthy life style with eating and exercise. Now if I eat any more plant material I think I'd be sprouting twigs when I poop.

The guy ahead of me that night at the heart center didn't make it off the operating table, but that wasn't me. I had 100% blockage in the main, 100% blockage on the right and (at the time what was thought) 80% blockage on the left (turned out to be 32%). When the ER surgeon installed the two stints in my main I could feel the blood starting to course thru my body and I felt great.

I could go on about the event and the complications that arose after and are on going and the two more opperations I have had but I won't. My advise is to:

Live- Do what makes you happy. Make others happy. If you can, laugh and most importantly make others laugh because when you cry you cry alone. When you laugh, everyone laughs with you.

Bruce

Excellent...

Yes it's on my mind. Family is what does it. I didn't have anyone to call 'dad' and I don't want my kids to experience that. As others have said I want to see them grown and self sufficient before I go.

I'm with those who say it's not the event itself, it's those left behind.

I choose to live accordingly now. Exercise regularly, eat more carefully and fish/hunt/do things with my kids every chance I get. If I die now it's more likely to be after a hard session on the bike or rower or treadmill than it is to be on the couch covered in cheeto dust. I guess I'll take that.

OP I am sorry for you to have lost a child.

I just turned 49 and Saturday just gone at 8pm my life long friend of 42 years took his last shallow breath. I'm still devastated. We grew up together. Literally inseparable for 42 years. I envisaged us turning into old curmudgeons together in a nursing home. So now death is all I've been thinking about.

Getting old and dealing with the diseases of the aged scars me more than dying.

Not one day goes by, not even one hour of every day goes by without me taking a single moment to appreciate what I am experiencing, good and bad. Embrace a child a second longer, savor the taste of beer, hold the hands of the people you love, be thankful.

These are the things from which immortality is made.

Some folks are afraid of dying...
Some folks are afraid of living...
Some folks are just afraid...period.

Put me down as "none of the above" :)

I agree with sc_rufctr

I am terrified of it. I can't even begin to fathom what it would be like to be no more, and to not be able to enjoy this wonderful life any longer.

I (61 yo) have thought about death ever since I threw 5 pulmonary emboli post spine surgery. I felt cold and a slipping away feeling before the treated me. It was such a traumatic event that I feel into a depression and had really bad anxiety. Every time I felt a pain or a strange feeling I was convinced I was going to die.

I saw a psychologist and explained my problem. It so happens that he had bad stroke a few years prior and had first hand knowledge of the same feelings.

Basically he explained,
1 - We have no control over when, how or where we pass.
2 - One must accept one's mortality.

My grandson was born almost 7 months ago. I saw every stage of development. This is what I learned.

We start out as nothing. We develop and somewhere during our development either it is inserted or it somehow develops in us or "being", our consciousness, our awareness. When this occurs I do not believe we know. BUT, where there was nothing there is now something.

So, we come from the void and go back into the void. We have no recollection of anything before.

Look at it this way. When we sleep (unless we dream) we have no idea that we are sleeping. We are back in the void. When we undergo anesthesia we have no idea where we are. It all goes dark, and it ain't so bad. There is no sense of consciousness, we seize awareness for a time.

I feel the real problem is our refusal to leave this place. our loved ones, and will try to hold on no matter what. We are like a child, afraid of the dark, afraid of the unfamiliar. The battle ensues within. There lies the problem. Our internal and instinctive survival mechanism which controls us.

I have, after much work at becoming more accepting of death as a natural part of our lives, feel that, "we come we go."

Believe me, I understand the fear of dying. But when the time comes, we are along for the ride. I asked my 93 year old father what his thoughts were on death. He is truly the last man standing of his family and friends. He said that he was no longer afraid to die, and it was natural.

Fastfred, my condolences on your loss.

Nope. I just wish it will be quick and I worry about the pain it may cause to others.