How do you cope with the knowledge of your ultimate demise?

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Question_everything's picture
How do you cope with the knowledge of your ultimate demise?

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Alembé's picture
This may be seen as sappy, so

This may be seen as sappy, so be it.

Understanding that by its nature and progress on this planet, life comes with a strict time limit, I:

Rejoice every morning that I wake up
Live every day to the fullest
Cherish every moment of love and positive human interaction
Wonder at all forms of beauty
Give thanks that against all probabilities, I was born and lived under fortunate circumstances

Jared Alesi's picture
A mathematician recently did

A mathematician recently did a Ted Talk, and according to him, when one factors in all possibilities in all scenarios of life from all of your ancestors to you, the chance that any one person could have been born in the exact way in which they were is 42,000,000,000 to one. That's amazing. If that isn't a reason to live a damn good life, I can't find one. I owe it to myself as a maths person.

xenoview's picture
Just take it one day at a

Just take it one day at a time. Enjoy each day to the fullest. I recently turn 50. Looking forward to 51.

mbrownec's picture
I was in a small group

I was in a small group conversation recently and it amazed me how everyone else was talking about making lifestyle changes to hopefully add years to their life. And ... talking about their bucket lists.

I must be an oddball. I feel like my life has been exceedingly full. I've had simple tastes and expectations. I've experienced so many things that others only dream about or can wish for. I truly appreciate all that life has thrown my way ... the bad and the good.

I'm happy and content. I'm at peace with myself and my relationships. I have no regrets needing a do-over as I addressed conflicts, disagreements and disappointments at the they occurred. I'm free and ready.

chimp3's picture
I enjoy being alive , try to

I enjoy being alive , try to make a difference, and laugh insanely on the inside knowing you all are going to meet your demise also. Just kidding. May you live long and lucky!

CyberLN's picture
I rarely think about it.

I rarely think about it. When I do, I smile that I have been able to exist at all. I mean, how kewl is it?!

SecularSonOfABiscuitEater's picture
I learned a while back that

I learned a while back that stressing over things I can't control isn't productive at all. It's great that I'm not bound to religious rules. You see, because now life can really be lived to the fullest. That's something to celebrate and that helps me stay collected.

BAACKJD's picture
I hope to live a long life.

I hope to live a long life. Joe Rogan made a great point on his podcast the other day when he said that the last 5-10 years or so your body just breaks down so much that you're just ready for it to be over.

I also find solace in this quote by Mark Twain:

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”

Pitar's picture
And then die with body

And then die with body functions shutting down leaving the heart and brain working those last few moments giving full cognizance to the event? Never occurred to me.

algebe's picture
Mortality sharpens my

Mortality sharpens my experience of life and heightens the value of every single day. I wouldn't trade that for the after-life fantasy that religionists use to cover up their fear.

As death gets closer (I'm 65 now) it becomes more familiar and less frightening. It's the cure for all diseases and the ultimate painkiller. While I'm still able, I'll continue to fill my life with new experiences and knowledge. "My Way" might sound like a corny old song, but the lyrics are actually quite profound.

I'll cope with non-existence ok. I did before.

Endri Guri's picture
What are you talking about

What are you talking about "corny old song", I loved it! I'm a good old classical music fan also.

algebe's picture
Then you might like "And When

Then you might like "And When I Die" by Blood, Sweat and Tears.

"And when I die and when I'm gone,
there'll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on."

The full lyrics are here.
https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tkomzx6nabo44gktk2wje2w3deu?lyrics...

And a Youtube video (1974) here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D9xHFa8zgg

Endri Guri's picture
Well, other than agreeing to

Well, other than agreeing to the previous comments. At least I will enjoy the Idea of my decomposing corpse fertilizing Earth and feeding microorganisms.

charvakheresy's picture
When I lost my belief, The

When I lost my belief, The first thought that kept me awake at night was my mortality.
I could not find any way to calm myself. The thought that I would perish with no chance in the afterlife seemed cruel. I really felt helpless.

Then I happened upon an old quote;

Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not? ― Epicurus

Somehow it changed the way I saw things. My outlook in life. Its more about what you have right now than what you can have later.

I guess its a way of thinking, or a point of view.

BAACKJD's picture
Why should I fear death?

Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not? ― Epicurus

I like that.

GayAtheist2017's picture
Simple pleasures: sex, love,

Simple pleasures: sex, love, and pot

MCDennis's picture
I remember what Edgar Allen

I remember what Edgar Allen Poe said about death and dying

Truett's picture
Hi Audrey, this is a great

Hi Audrey, this is a great topic. I was dreadfully fearful of the loss of an eternal paradise until I realized the nature of reality and my position in that reality. The realization of the spectacular saga of time and space emerging 13.7 billion years ago, the building of the periodic table of elements within the bellies countless stars, the accretion of the earth from a bit of stray dust from innumerable stars across the expanse of time, the arrival by meteorite of complex amino acids, the chemical processes that formed the first self-replicating molecule, the titanic struggle of octillions of living beings desperate to exist, the evolution of endless forms most beautiful, and the emergence of humans from impossible to predict circumstances all create awe and wonder within me.

We are part of a story more beautiful and wondrous than any author could imagine or create. Carl Sagan rightly spoke of the fact that we are star dust. And at our base, we are not composed of anything hard at all. No particles. The best we can tell from all that has been learned, we are made of pure energy from the fabric of the universe itself. All quarks, electrons, neutrinos, photons and all forces of nature are comprised of continuous fluid-like substances known as quantum fields. We are truly a living part of this universe. My consciousness and memories are beautiful to me and when I die my part of them will be gone. But my nature and my instincts and inclinations and so much of what makes me 'me' exists right now in others; more strongly in closer relations, less so in more distant relations, but what makes me 'me' exists and will continue without my presence. My small effect on those around me will continue. And my offspring are the living embodiment of me. More importantly, even when nothing of me persists, the mere fact that I am one of the insanely lucky beings that is conscious for even a moment is infinitely valuable to me. Consider the vast universe and how little of the universe attains consciousness. We are among the most fortunate manifestations of nature across this impossibly large universe. I comfort myself that I have a moment in the sun to see it and enjoy it and know some small part of it. No eternal heaven on one's knees worshiping a murdering psychopath compares with what I've had and have now.

Non-existence waits for me and I am fine with that. We've met before. The collapse of my colony of cells and genes will leave me lifeless, but during my time I have not only existed. I have lived. With such realizations and perspective I calmly accept the knowledge of my ultimate demise.

Jared Alesi's picture
I think of it in terms of

I think of it in terms of matter. I'm made of matter, and my matter comes from the Earth. When I die, if I'm buried, I will decompose. When my wooden box and I decompose, the worms and beetles will consume us, and put us back in the Earth. I will be recycled, and recycled again, and never by useless. I will no longer be me, nor will I probably ever be the components of a human again, but I will not go unused. I find that poetic, and I look forward to the day when my living self can pass into my dead self, and again serve a purpose.

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