Are You Afraid to Die?

A more meaningful question would be to ask how much a person "wants to AVOID dying and continue LIVING". In many cases, a person won't fear dying as long as there isn't pain or misery involved that is most common.

An old mentally and physically diminished person, even not in pain, may welcome death while a fit, healthy, financially solid person, like I am, may have tremendous reasons for not wanting to die, possibly losing existence forever eternally. Thus a reason death is arguably the saddest reality for we mortals that love and enjoy life. I wish to exist eternally and could do so happily content here on Earth.

By asking "Are You Afraid to Die?", that tends to point to religious afterlife factors, being afraid of the unknowns, especially if wondering if afterlife is a possibility or not. Although I have unique Christian beliefs, I have little confidence in the way eternal life is framed with church dogmas beyond what Jesus actually related in the New Testament, that is very limited. Thus one needs to have HOPE and FAITH.

Those who lean towards narratives it will be life in a paradise of Heaven are doing so on considerable imaginative dogma not supported by scripture. For instance even if one receives some kind of eternal life after mortal existence, the form one exists in and what they may do, may be unequal depending on the evaluation of one's life when alive. And it may be as I tend to expect, that most humans just die ending existence and become dust without the Hell narrative much like a stepped on ant.
 
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debodun said:
When my mom had open heart surgery, they were taking her to the recovery room and her heart stopped. By the time they revived her, for 15 minutes she was clinically dead. After I asked if she experienced anything and she said she didn't.
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That must have been such an awful experience for you, I'm so sorr;y. Yesterday, Jan. 26th my mother died 24 years ago. I miss her every day.
 
For those otherwise healthy without pains with an enjoyable life that state they are not afraid of death, I would add that though they may not much fear the actual process of dying if pain free, they are likely to at times be greatly depressed their life is ending if they know such from say a certain medical diagnosis. So not a fear emotion but likewise possibly very unpleasant with an awareness of no way to avoid as time shortens shortens.
 
During my life of a state trooper, I have seen many people die and have held the hand of dying people. If the death is not climactic, like that of a person who was just shot or stabbed and is not showing any pain, it seemed to me at the time that the person dying was in control and just taking the time to checkout slowly.

If the person dies suddenly, I have noticed the peace on their face, especially those that had suffered with disease or serious injury. You can almost tell that they are now at peace.

I am not afraid to die, but I don’t want to suffer while waiting for death to come. Unfortunately, that most likely won’t be my choice.
 
Socrates{
To fear death is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not; for it is to think one knows what one does not know. No man knows whether death may not even turn out to be the greatest blessing for a human being; and yet people fear it as if they knew for certain that is is the greatest of evil.

For me it's more a fear of the unknown than death itself.
 
Murrmurr said:
I'm not afraid of dying. What scares me is living too long. Being wheelchair-bound, useless and in constant pain, barely able to hear and see, mentally incompetent, my needs met when it fits other people's schedule. For years.

That is scary.
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I feel the same way. My preference would be to go to sleep and not wake up. Im old and Ive outlived everybody. Its just me now. My affairs are in order so when I go I go.
 
"And I am not afraid of dying. Any time will do, I don’t mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There’s no reason for it. You’ve got to go sometime."
Gerry O’Driscoll, Janitor at Abbey Road Studios, London, England
As recorded for Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.
 
IrisSenior said:
I am afraid I will not go quick enough. I cannot imagine spending my remaining years in poor health (arthritis, etc) and knowing I am gradually deteriorating or an accident that leaves unable to cope on my own. You know what I mean?
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I do know what you mean, and I have found an answer in a hymn we sometimes sing in my church.

The words go like this:-

Brother, Sister Let Me Serve You.
Let Me Be As Christ To You;
Pray That I May Have The Grace To
Let You Be My Servant Too.

We Are Pilgrims On A Journey,
And Companions On The Road;
We Are Here To Help Each Other
Walk The Mile And Bear The Load.

I Will Hold The Christ-Light For You
In The Night-Time Of Your Fear;
I Will Hold My Hand Out To You,
Speak The Peace You Long To Hear.

I Will Weep When You Are Weeping;
When You Laugh I’ll Laugh With You;
I Will Share Your Joy And Sorrow
Till We’ve Seen This Journey Through.
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Thinking back to the night my first child was born, when I was completely exhausted from pushing, I remember the face of the nurse who helped me by holding my head up when I had not the energy to do so. I even remember her name - Nurse Chan. I read it later on my baby's birth certificate.

I was very stiff necked and proud when I was young.
Although I was willing to help others, I was too proud to ask for help for myself but now I realise that we are here on this Earth to help one another and that thought comforts me. I know that there are ministering angels who come forward when needed, especially at the end.

My experience of being with my husband as he lay dying in hospital confirmed this belief. My daughter and I were cared for above and beyond the call of duty by the nurses. Metaphorically speaking, they were ministering angels for all three of us.

I now understand what it means to be pilgrims on a journey and companions on the road.
 
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Not to sound morbid but I am actually looking forward to death. Life has not been very rewarding anyway so I look forward to the next step of my journey if there is one. I do not believe in the good place of the bad place nor do I believe in judgement day. I don't know what death is like but before I was born I didn't know what life was like either... and I survived that.

Life and death are relevant to each other so I trust death will have some relevancy to life. I am bored with life, it doesn't offer me anything new or exciting. I feel I am coasting to the inevitable so why not be done with it and move on?
 
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The event doesn't scare but what I will miss makes me sad. I am very close to my two granddaughters. One in medical school the other in computer engineering. I fear I'll miss their graduations , their wedings, my great grandchildren and on and on. My solace is that I strongly believe they will always remember me lovingly.
 

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