Are you afraid of death?

I’m afraid of suffering and feeling helpless, yes (the dying process).

Not at all. But I prefer it wait for me for like another hundred years or so.

I try not to think of it. And I’m not afraid of death, but how I might die.

No. It’s silly to be afraid of the inevitable.

It’s not a terrible fear of mine,but death by shark attack would blow,as my gun isn’t waterproof.

Not death, just the unknown.

To die would be an awfully big adventure.

I’m not afraid of death or the way that it will happen. Que sera sera.
I am very afraid of losing people that I care about, though.
I’ve been to over 20 funerals in the past three years, and it never gets easier. I’ve always put myself last though, so that might be why I’m not afraid for myself.

I’m just afraid of being alone when I die. I’d hate for my loved ones to die before me.

I am not afraid of death. I am afraid of the dying process. My father died of a long, painful, debilitating disease, and I hope I am hit by a truck or have a massive heart attack, anything quick.
I have great faith in the immortality of the soul, so I don’t think things just come to an end. My religious life and spiritual experience give me confidence in that respect.

Dying no.Death the big fucking scary guy in a cloak carrying a sickle?Hell yeah!

I’m not afraid of dying, just afraid of dying without having lived a really fulfilling life.

It’s the circle of life, its coming for everyone. My concern is dying poorly.

Death no… whether there is an afterlife or not you find out when it comes. Dying however I am terrified of. I would hate a painful, drawn-out death.

I am just afraid of being wrong about there being no heaven and hell. I shudder at the though of being stuck for all eternity with the likes of Paris Hilton, Donald Trump and Nancy Pilosi!

@Vunessuh

I never really understood this argument.

Once in your life, on some random day, at a random time, it is guaranteed that a clown will break into your house and stab you with a butcher’s knife. It’s inevitable, so don’t be scared.

It’s the ones who most vehemently say they don’t fear death that are the most afraid.
If we weren’t afraid of death on some level, we wouldn’t take such extreme measures to ensure our safety.
Even if we weren’t afraid of dying ourselves, I can’t name
anyone who isn’t a little afraid of someone they love dying.

That’s an unrealistic approach. Death is the one thing that is bound to happen. Not being stabbed by a clown with a butcher’s knife.
I just don’t live my life in fear of something that is going to happen no matter what I do. I’m going to enjoy the fact that I’m alive and never resort to being afraid of the inevitable. Am I afraid of losing people? Yes. But I’m not afraid of dying myself. It’s never something that’s on my mind.
I also don’t look at death as a bad thing. That’s probably another reason why it doesn’t bother me.

Nothing else is inevitable, besides taxes. Nothing else is guaranteed to you when you’re born. Might as well accept it and live your life so you can actually die without regrets, not cowering over the one thing that will happen no matter what.

However, I do understand that a lot of people are terrified of death because it is so ordinary. It happens everyday.

However i rationalize and overcome the fear of death, at times the thought of it sends chills down spine! It’s so selfish though we know that life is a struggle!

@rangerr “To die would be an awfully big adventure.”
If I were to write my own eulogy I would title it “On To Another Grand Adventure!”

My only concern is dying suddenly with no provision for my loved ones and dependents.

@Captain_Fantasy “It’s the ones who most vehemently say they don’t fear death that are the most afraid.”
LOL…Some of us just enjoy living more than the prospect of dying. but we don’t fear death. As mentioned many times above, most people are more afraid of being crippled or maimed and not just dying than they are of actually dying.

I am afraid of being split apart from the love of my life – life itself.

People are dying these days who never died before (quote from my Dad).

Not at the moment, no. I try not to connect my beliefs (or lack thereof) of religion with death. I’m not exactly sure where I’ll end up after the Big Sleep commences but I’m eternally optimistic that it will be a pleasant and entertaining venue.

@Yetanotheruser my first laugh of the day. I needed that! :)

No, not the actual moment of death, just how I die.

I’m afraid of being helpless, like after a stroke, not dying. I would wish my kids were a little settled.

Sounds like it will be a wild ride. Just waiting on line for my turn.

This is the type of question which can rarely be answered except in the final moments of ebbing life.

Yes because I love my life. Not afraid, just don’t want it to happen.

Not death, but dying.

Yes! I like living…I’m not ready to go yet!

No, just hoping that it does not hurt!

What’s to fear? I don’t want to leave yet, and I really don’t want the people I care about to be hurt by my death, but once I’m dead I won’t know about it, so there is nothing to fear. I just want a full life before my death.

I guess it’s easy for me to say no at this point, but who knows if I’ll still feel that way on my death bed, or if death is made clear to me by disease, a fatal accident, or what have you. I think the survival instinct, even when you’re done surviving, is much stronger a will than just about anything else.

But for now I’ll say no. It doesn’t scare me, it’s gonna happen some day anyways, and I’ve no beliefs that make me fear it, ecxept, as most of everyone says, the process of dying itself.

The lack of understanding of death causes the fear of it.
This aught not to be.

Death generally is seen as something evil to the one dying.

Death will rule most men because it is an unresolved conflict with themselves. And Death thrives where there is conflict.

There is a death we should look forward to with expectation , and love it for it is good.

There is a death we should not expect neither love for it is evil.

Knowing the nature of Death, will cause you to allow it to rule over that which belongs to it and not allowing it to rule where it has no concern.

Now you are the ruler over death, and the body need not die.

My dad always says, “do you remember before you were born? You wont remember after you are dead.”

No, I’m not afraid of death. I am afraid of having a horrible illness prior to death. Like everyone else, I hope I just go to sleep and never wake up——but not for a long long time.

This is the topic of my favorite poem

Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
~ Dylan Thomas

@SeventhSense I love that poem too, but as I said to my brother recently regarding my Mom: “What would be so worng with going gently into that good night?”

@janbb
Nothing really…One of my favorites was Sam Kinnison’s last words. They were apparently, ”“Oh, ok. Ok.” as if he was accepting of his fate.
I think of the poem as just a testament of the passion of life and the human struggle and all the pathos that entails…holding out for one last breath..never quite accomplishing all that we would have liked… limited by our mortality.

Yes, agreed, but sometimes one, like my Mom, is really ready to go.

@FireMadeFlesh
It’s not the prospect of non existence or whatever it is you believe, but more the process of taking one’s last breath leaving a state of existence you have known nothing but, and accepting one you have never experienced but which you have tried to prevent at any cost your entire life. That’s a lot to swallow.

I don’t fear dying, but I don’t particularly like the way things are going. What I fear is my children and their emotions through the circumstance. I worry about my husband – my best friend. I know he will survive, but we are just two peas in a pod, peanut butter and jelly. We’re supposed to be together, grow old together.

Death is a very real part of life. Some of us get the gift of knowing a little in advance.

@cak A hug, kiddo.

@janbb -thanks!

My having incurable cancer gives a definite edge to this question. I have come so close to being killed so many times that Death seems almost like an old, though somewhat morbid, friend. I admit to being extremely reluctant to die, but saying that I’m afraid of it is a bit of an exaggeration. Perhaps I’m just a tad apprehensive? : )

@SeventhSense it’s one of my favorite poems as well..

@Simone_De_Beauvoir
OH MY GOD!!!
We actually identify with each other about something!!

@SeventhSense sigh…I can not deny this fact

Absolutely i am not afraid of death.
the only thing that will die is this earthly body,
it is born and it will die
but i shall take a vehicle made of light, and ride through the sky and disappear into the night…......... and then awake with a baby’s screaming delight.

The only thing that scares me more than death is the concept of living forever.

I am by no means in a constant state of concious fear due to the possibility of death, quite the contrary, I tend to be inconsiderate of such things. But when I do contemplate the concept in any depth, I cannot deny that it remains one of my greatest fears and bizarrely, also one of my greatest allies.

Death. To me. Is the spontaneous extinction of everything, the conclusion of every potential stimulation, perception and idea. All that I adore, hate or receive any trace of sensation from within this existence gone. This thought however, has proven for me to be beneficial as it is the looming image of death that encourages me to live. It is the delicate balance of life and death that I have found permits me to appreciate and experience much of what I encounter to its full potential, or atleast to a significantly greater potential than if I were to live eternally.

In truth, the moment I no longer fear death will be the moment I have nothing left to live for.

@Vunessuh Whether something is inevitable or not is irrelevant to what it is capable of seizing from you. I believe what Ivan attempted to emphasise in his analogy is that if something can occur at any moment but is inarguably going to occur you are still afraid of it.

I am completely comfortable with Death.
My only concern is the mess I leave my wife with.

@Nially_Bob Nah, opinions are always relevant. I’m not telling anyone how they should think. I’m just expressing my mindset on the topic of death. The fact that it’s inevitable matters to me and changes my way of thinking about it in a more positive way.

Yes, I am. Very afraid. I don’t want to disappear.

@Vunessuh
I can assure you, I did not think otherwise. I too have found death to have had a positive effect on my life but remain afraid of it due to my realisation of what it could take from me (everything). Does this concept not worry you my friend? Also, I do not fully understand what you mean when declaring that “opinions are always relevant”. Are you implying that death being inevitable and/or it being capable of seizing something from you is an opinion? I apologise for the confusion

@OperativeQ
But will you disappear in your entirety? Do you not believe it possible that you may live on in the memories of others, or even in your physical remains which will go on to provide sustenance for other entities?

@ChazMaz That’s the part that scares me about dying: the disconnect from everything I identify myself with. Every once in a while I get the sense of the whole world spinning on without me, and me not even existing enough to know…and the foreverness of it all…that scares the shit out of me.
@Nially_Bob Yeah. What you said. Totally.

I fear the death of my parents, my wife and G_d forbid, my children.
I fear a drawn out, painful, dehumanizing death.

No, I’ve had the experience of people dropping out on me several times, so it isn’t something I fear. My grandmother work up every morning for the last dozen or so years of her life and said “Oh no, not another day.” I’ve decided to be happy every single day for the rest of my life, and I hope to see my 100th birthday and beyond. Hey, maybe I’ll even make the Guinness Book?

@SeventhSense I think there is a difference between fearing death and wanting to live. I sincerely hope my death is a long way away, ideally just when I am going senile or becoming incapacitated. I do fear not completing my life to some extent, but when I am old and starting to lose it, I will welcome death with open arms because I fear nursing homes. The only thing to fear about death is it coming at the wrong time.

I’m not scared of death, I’m scared of if it will be painful.

@Nially_Bob I was referring to my consciousness. I won’t exist as myself anymore. I am not people’s memories and my body is but a vessel.

I’m not afraid of death, I like the idea, I’d like to know if there’s the other side and what happens there…. I sometimes think what it would be like if I was dead it’s my hobby

By default no one should be afraid of death, if you are a Believer, then you know where your expected end will take you, and if you do not believe, then you will not even know when you are dead, even if you were stabbed or shot and was conscious knowing you are dying, at that very moment, you would not know and never will. Suffering on the way to death might be fearful, but the actual end should not be.