Do you sometimes think that it would not matter if you were to suddenly stop living?

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
To go to sleep and not wake up?
Why Life, with all it's up's and downs?
Imagine never having to deal with those negative aspects of life.
No more worry, stress, money issues, no nothing.
I sometimes do. What really is the purpose of working to live?
We work 40/50 years, then retire with the hope of doing all those things, or at least some of the things that work stopped us from doing.
 

As the great Australian poet Bill "Kanga" Shakespeare once said:


Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
 
AnneTeak said:
i am not ready to stop living
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In old age ennui can assert itself if we're not careful. Maybe that's to remove the sting of death. If we want to live, it's important to stay positive and engaged.
But in the larger scheme of things nothing really matters, including our suffering --we're lucky just to be along for the ride.
 
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I felt that way for a long time after my son died. I just wanted to die, would have gladly and with great relief followed him into death. Living was just too painful to endure.

The only thing that prevented me from taking action was the knowledge that it would matter a great deal to my other kids. Seeing the pain that they were in from having lost Devin, I just couldn’t make it worse for them. Some days that almost didn’t matter, and it was a struggle to keep going.

I still have days where I feel that way, it’s just not 24/7 any more.
 
@Bretrick: i understand the feeling. Lived with it much of the first third of my life. Feel very different now. Will address those feelings in other reply or replies to this.

i am fortunate in that I have family i know it would matter to. While two of my siblings have died i have two left, that i know would it would impact. The 6 yrs older sister would bemoan the death of her younger sister, even tho she has actually said to me that she expects i will die first because "you've had a harder life". (Why & the problem with her saying that could be a whole other topic.) My 16 yrs younger brother would miss me because i was heavily involved in his daily care the first 2 yrs of his life and introduced him museums and such as he got older.

Then there's my children: My Gen X boys turn 50 today. DD will be 42 in September. She lives with me. We enjoy each other's company but give each other 'space' as needed.

While it would be appreciated if some aspects of this material life was easier, i am keenly aware of how much harder it could be so am grateful for the life i have. When i feel down i go outside, sometimes to do something productive, other times just to appreciate being here, now. Especially at night. Skyful of stars never fails to improve my mood, and even a cloudy night if any trace of moonlight peeks thru helps me somehow.
 
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I can understand this. Once in a while, my anxiety disorder exhausts me.

When it's really bad, I go to my people and ask them to remind me why I'm doing this, again. Then they tell me about how much they love me, that we're a team in this life and bonded together, need each other.

They tell me they like me too and we're funny together and then they, inevitably, make me laugh and it's hard to be tired of life when you're cracking up. ❤️
 
Repondering said:
I'm not ready to leave this material world either. My journey here is incomplete. I'm persuaded that when our bodies die our consciousness or soul continues its journey in the direction of the Divine.......something too vast to comprehend.
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Totally agree. I sometimes, make that often feel that part of me exists in this material world, and part in that ethereal world. While i had glimpses of it when younger those glimpses contributed to my angst because experiences connected to that feeling were not as accepted by the world in general. Even now some people are closed to it despite the fact even scientists are changing their opinions.

My meditations involve acknowledgment and affirmation of this dual aspect of life, the importance of sharing what i have gained in each aspect. A recognition of how temporary this physical life us, but gratitude for the experiences, the interactions with other souls.
 
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Bretrick said:
To go to sleep and not wake up?
Why Life, with all it's up's and downs?
Imagine never having to deal with those negative aspects of life.
No more worry, stress, money issues, no nothing.
I sometimes do. What really is the purpose of working to live?
We work 40/50 years, then retire with the hope of doing all those things, or at least some of the things that work stopped us from doing.
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Same here.
 

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"Do you sometimes think that it would not matter if you were to suddenly stop living?

There are a few it would matter to, at least to some degree. Certainly it would have mattered a lot more when I was younger and had my wife and family to support, and other family members . . . back when my mother and my father were still here, and then - - - there is (was) my daughter, but she and I have been estranged for some time now and I have no way of contacting her or knowing her present whereabouts. No, she wouldn't miss me, and probably won't even know when I'm gone. I have no brothers, sisters, or grandchildren.

In past years, I had a wider circle of friends and work acquaintances. Most of those people have since passed on, and there's not one thing I can do about that - so I just go on and make the best of what is and don't give it too much thought. I'm okay with it. Someone had to be last. It might as well be me.
 
One half of my family would strip out everything I have like a piranha the other half wouldn't even care. The piranhas children would not even consider my passing any more important than wiping their butts after using the toilet. The latter had no children.

So no it wouldn't matter if I croaked this very moment or not.
 
I am a realist. I'm healthy now, but I know that my time is limited. That's why I am making every effort to make my passing easier for my son and daughter in law.

I seriously doubt that there is an afterlife, and I'm OK with that. I've had a good long life and expecting anything more would be greedy. Everything is temporary. That's why we should take what pleasures we can, while we can.
 
If I were suddenly put into many other's boring, meaningless, hopeless future, continued physical degradation, constant pain, existences, such thoughts would be certain to arise. But I am a very lucky one to this point, as none of that has been my senior era fate. Am even luckier, as if it were not for modern medical science, I'd likely already be dead from polycythemia vera a rare bone blood neoplasm disorder. And my recent left inguinal hernia mesh surgery, given modern technology is now 57 days post surgery healed, going to extend my very physically active life for many more years.

But even without the above, if I was housebound, in this science and technology age given my decades of science studies, there are endless ways I could fascinate myself just with a computer connected to the Internet. So yeah...lucky to be alive now.
 
I definitely feel what is in the OP at least half the time. If I live much longer and my physical problems worsen (Particularly COPD, which has been getting a lot worse lately, and worrying me especially since Sly Stone died from it), I'll feel that way much more often. To be honest, my only real pleasure these days is reading. I never had enough time when I was younger so now that my kids are grown and I'm retired that's what I mostly do.
 
To go to sleep and not wake up?

Death is a given so if I get to choose that is my preferance.But leaving my wife is not a happy thought. I do have an outline in place to remind her to call 911 to explain that she found me dead in bed. That way EMT's & police will come to verify I died of natural causes.

Why Life, with all it's up's and downs?

The downs make the ups more enjoyable.

Imagine never having to deal with those negative aspects of life.
No more worry, stress, money issues, no nothing.

No worries more like concern for our sons future. Stress not really. Money issues fortunate to have a wife that put us on the path to being comfortable. No nothing have to think about that.

What really is the purpose of working to live? More like working to enjoy whatever happens as the years pass.

We work 40/50 years, then retire with the hope of doing all those things, or at least some of the things that work stopped us from doing.

Worked 34 years at jobs that I had to pay federal taxes. Retired early to do the things that not possible while at work.
 
It would matter. For a while. But then life would go on and I would be thought of just now and then. Less thought of as time goes by. I haven't made any big mark. I've lived a simple life. I will have had my tiny place in the big scheme of many, many, people, places, and things.
 

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