Afraid? No. I think that I probably will never have a long life, though. But if I do, and it's healthy...good!
Are you afraid to die?
by kenpodragon 25 Replies latest jw friends
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blondie
I have faced real death three times in my life (not self-inflicted) and was snatched back. I learned that fear of death is not my problem. I was afraid of living. Not so any more. And I have learned to live each day because death can reach out and grab us very quickly. If this sounds like a lesson, I'm sorry. But it was my lesson.
Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.
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truman
My first conscious realization of my own mortality came upon me around the age of 12 or 13. I was just laying on the couch thinking one day, and the crushing weight of understanding that someday, I would be no more, gone from existence, invaded my thoughts. It changed my whole way of thinking. Combined with the fears of nuclear death, we baby boomers who were kids in the 60's had constantly screened for us at school in the form of filmstrips and instructional videos on gamma rays, radiation burns, and bomb shelters, I had a morbid sort of fascination with and intense desire to find a way to avoid the usual eventuality of death. Then, my mother died suddenly when I was 18, she was 44.
Enter the JWs...with the solution to everything. I could hope to live forever, and if I did die,--a resurrection. Although, even as a witness, I had a strong inner conviction that I would die young, like my mother. When I approached the age she died, it was on my mind a lot. But, it didn't happen. Then, 3 years later a health crisis and cancer scare seemed to be the fulfillment of my fears. I survived! Now, it all seems to be behind me, but I had to give up the JW dream of living forever in paradise.
However, I find that living life as an adventure, instead of putting off my life now in deference to that dream has made me think about death much less. I don't welcome it or invite it, but I don't seem to have too much fear of it. If there is more after death, I will find out, and if there isn't, I won't know the difference. I do wish, that one way or the other, though, I could know how it all turns out here on planet earth over time.
truman
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Double Edge
K.D.
I feel it's sometimes hard to open up around here with very personal experiences because the the chance that someone will dismiss it as a bad dream or mere coincidence.... for that reason, I'm very careful with my words.. Thanks for sharing your stories....
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patio34
This reminds me of a story about a notice on a bulletin board in a medical school. It stated:
The first ten minutes in life, after birth, are the most stressful in a person's entire life.
Someone scrawled at the bottom:
The last ten minutes aren't so great either.
I concur with some others who said that it's the MODE they fear, not the event itself.
Pat
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Big Tex
According to my JW family, I'm already dead so I guess it depends on how you look at it. No I'm not afraid to die. Even if the Witnesses are right about God and he really does hate me, I'm still not afraid. I'm a little nervous about getting old, but that's another thread.
I've never wanted to be one of those people who are dead, before they are dead. My dad is like that. He has no interest in anything. He doesn't have deep thoughts or deep feelings about anything. He attends his 5 meetings a week, gets his 10 hours of service and holds his JW-approved blue collar job (so he doesn't have a showy display in life), but he never lives his life. Now he goes about his life as if he were an automaton. Once a long time ago, he used to have light behind his eyes and he was alive and energetic. He could have made a difference with his life. But not any longer. I'm probably the only person who remembers how he used to be and he hasn't spoken to me in 10 years. His memory is fading every day.