Quote:
Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Nobody gets out of this alive. I'm not too far off from your age and I think about it from time to time... My parents are declining and I doubt they'll be around too much longer so it's hard not to think about it when people close to you are facing it. A close friend of mine is also a hospice nurse so death being a part of life is semi-regular conversation.
To answer your question, no I don't fear it. I probably will have anxiety (as just about everyone does) when it's imminent, but I don't fear it. I am solidly atheist and don't believe in any kind of afterlife or "god" figure that i'm going to interact with after I go. I made my peace with that a long time ago. I'm very comfortable with that notion - I just hope that I achieve my goal of making the world a (slightly) better place for my having been part of it. If not, then I've accomplished nothing (that's a pretty distressing thought to me). I think the best thing we can do with our time here is make the world more compassionate, happy and enjoyable for those we leave behind.
My biggest fear isn't death per se, but not being around for those who might actually see some value in me (like my kids). That one is a bit jarring but if I do my job and get a little bit lucky, they'll be at a point in their lives where they're self-sufficient and able to thrive on their own without me. That's the whole point as I see it. If they get to that point, I've done my job and I can peacefully accept whatever fate befalls me.
The lessons, values, morals and wisdom we pass onto our kids are what we leave behind. It is though those things that we attain "immortality". I'm sure that who I am today is in no small part the result of handed-down lessons, values, experiences, etc. from many, many generations ago from long-forgotten relatives I'll never know. They live on through me - I hope to live on (somewhat) though those who follow me.
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A concept I came up with while studying philos.
1) All else being equal, something is better than nothing.
2) If something is better than nothing, then something happening when you die is better than nothing happening when you die.
3) Therefore believing something happens when you die is better than believing nothing will happen when you die, and if nothing happens you won't realize it anyway.
Just some food for thought!
Yes yes not fully fleshed out. "Better" isn't even defined, but just a perspective.