Last 3 or 4 weeks, I have had the odd occasion where I think about death. This for me always happens when I am lying in bed at night. My thoughts just go wild and my anxiety goes through the roof. I lie there thinking ''one day i'll be nothing''. I don't believe In the after life so when death comes i'll be nothing.
For me this stems from my definition of ''the meaning of life''. I don't believe there is a meaning of life. The only meaning of life is what you want it to be. I am a trainee counsellor and my meaning in life and still is in essence to help people. However I feel as though that has gone because if I think death leads to nothingness then what is the meaning or point of living life. This is showing in my daily life as know I am doing things and don't care about the outcome it may have.
So I wondered how readers reading this accept the aspect of death and what keeps them going in life. I don't know why but I thought it would be relevant to say I am 26.
Subscription Note:
Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.
Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.
Hi Bloor, welcome.
I think it's pretty normal to think about our own deaths from time to time.
26, eh? I'm (statistically) far closer to death than you are (decades older) and have had several close calls with it already (worked in law enforcement and was diagnosed with cancer some time ago).
It doesn't really frighten me anymore. I sure don't want to hasten it right now because I really like being alive. However, no one here gets out alive so, okay, I get it.
Unlike you, I don't think I'll be nothing after I die. I don't think anyone is. We are all pebbles thrown into the pond so to speak. We make ripples. And those ripples are indeed something. Those ripples effect others whether you see it or not. They can be magical and wonderful. Each of us holds the power to make them so.
The meaning of life? I think the meaning of life is living.
Life is the ultimate indulgence and death is the ultimate abstinence. We live in a good age for scientific advancement and (perhaps in our life time) a medical breakthrough will happen that will extend our life and health spans (hopefully reverse or halt the physical aging process too so we can actually ENJOY those extra years as oppose to being burdens to out loved ones). Science has managed to conquered EVERYTHING the Christian bible said that Yahweh would help us with. The only thing science has yet to do out of those promises is to defeat death itself (well theoretically, Old age would no longer be the issue, people would still kill other people and let's not forget other factors like disease).
My Christian mother has her faith placed in an afterlife, saying she might get bored if she had eternal life here on Earth, thinking that once she's done EVERYTHING she could, there would be nothing to live for. I DISAGREE with this assertion. Like you I too, now and then do ponder what its going to be like when I finally "check out" and become just another addition to the compose heap. I look forward to the day (if within our lifetime) when scientists say "we can live forever". YEAH, there's the whole "the sun is going to eat the solar system" someday in the far, far, far off future, but its going to be sweet up until that point (assuming we haven't gotten into developing space colonies and terraforming other planets). We're learning too much each day as a species, so I'm NEVER going to get bored.
Again, life is the ultimate indulgence and death is the ultimate abstinence, and while I'm still breathing I plan on indulging myself on what I can, when I can and however I can until this body says its had enough and that its time for me to check out. So just stop worrying so damn much, pick something to feast upon and plunge your face in it head first! And if you get sick of eating from that menu, PICK ANOTHER!
We are all incredibly lucky to be alive.
Think of all the possible people (and critters too ) who never were born.
You only have so much time to live and can't do anything or make any difference after you are dead.
Do what you feel are the correct things for you, and enjoy your life.
Expecting that nothing ultimately matters sounds very much like you believe in an afterlife which I know isn't true 'cause you said so yourself.
Remember the immortal words of Mark Twain," I was dead for billions of years before I was born and wasn't inconvenienced by it in the least."
Hello Bloor4
I can completely understand ur situation as i have been through that too lately
it is right that there is no absolute meaning of life and the meaning of life is what you make it
but in response to the idea that since death means being lost into nothingness so what is the point of living is still not a good enough reason to consider that , not being here would have been better,,,,,,,
the following is another meaning of life and the point of staying alive as long as possible to its fullest in my opinion
whether we realize it or not whether we are told or not we have very strong and significant effect on the lives of others like family friends, we all may not see eachother or talk to eachother every day but as long as we know that they are there our life looks complete,,,,,,,,this is so because we only realize that the vaccum created by someones death never gets filled by something else we just learn to live with it,,,,, but sometimes it could have really bad affect on our lives based on how close we held someone,,,,,,,same goes with you
you wont know but can imagine what vaccum you can leave in the lives of others by not being there if you had a chance to do so. and then that vaccum can be a strong reason of depression for them and then they will be sad for unknown time,,,,,, and we surely dont want to be sad as long as we are alive,,,,,,
So the meaning of life is ,,,,,, at least to be there,,,,,,make others happy
be something for them and leave them with something to treasure and hold on to..........I know u did not suggest it but i would complete this idea by saying that chosing to take our own life would be the worst thing to leave our kins with
Hello Bloor4
I can completely understand ur situation as i have been through that too lately
it is right that there is no absolute meaning of life and the meaning of life is what you make it
but in response to the idea that since death means being lost into nothingness so what is the point of living is still not a good enough reason to consider that , not being here would have been better,,,,,,,
the following is another meaning of life and the point of staying alive as long as possible to its fullest in my opinion
whether we realize it or not whether we are told or not we have very strong and significant effect on the lives of others like family friends, we all may not see eachother or talk to eachother every day but as long as we know that they are there our life looks complete,,,,,,,,this is so because we only realize that the vaccum created by someones death never gets filled by something else we just learn to live with it,,,,, but sometimes it could have really bad affect on our lives based on how close we held someone,,,,,,,same goes with you
you wont know but can imagine what vaccum you can leave in the lives of others by not being there if you had a chance to do so. and then that vaccum can be a strong reason of depression for them and then they will be sad for unknown time,,,,,, and we surely dont want to be sad as long as we are alive,,,,,,
So the meaning of life is ,,,,,, at least to be there,,,,,,make others happy
be something for them and leave them with something to treasure and hold on to..........I know u did not suggest it but i would complete this idea by saying that chosing to take our own life would be the worst thing to leave our kins with
The mere fact that you seek to learn to help others gives meaning to your life in the context of human interaction. Every person whose life you touch is changed. That's pretty good. It might seem like not enough now, but wait for it.
When I was 32, lo these 3 decades ago, I realized while looking at the driftwood trees in blossom that I had a finite number of blooming divisions to experience. It made me feel similar to the way you describe. The following year, the damn trees blossomed again, and I understood that it wasn't how many springs I had left that made them meaningful, but how much effort I put in to appreciating the beauty around me.
Don't underestimate yourself. Your life has meaning because you have the wit to ask the question!
Stupid autocorrect. It's DOGWOOD. Not driftwood. Not divisions. Argh