"What do we say to the God of Death?"
"Not today."
Sorry. couldn't resist. Yes, we know life isn't a Game of Thrones episode (and if Season 8 taught us anything, it's that we are so lucky that it's not), but the prospect of death and dying has scared the living daylights out of most everyone throughout the course of human civilization.
Those who have reconciled with this weighed in after Redditor johnnycross asked the online community: "To those whom this applies to, why are you not afraid of death?"
"I like the idea..."
I like the idea of finality. Everything must end including me. Also I feel like I've lived my life in a way I'm satisfied. I may not be rich or successful, but I'm nice to people, and I know the people in my life love me, and that's all I could hope for.
"Being okay..."
Being okay with death is the only way you can truly enjoy living. Death is hard to come to terms with, but it ill come eventually and it is impossible to know when. This is exactly why we need to be more mindful about being present and just enjoy what we have around. Forgive yourself and enjoy the small things. I truly recommend reading "Tuesdays with Morrie," it gives very interesting points of view about death and how to embrace it.
"Depression really altered my mind..."
Depression really altered my mind into this mentality, I realize it is not a healthy way of thinking. I'm not suicidal anymore, but I really don't care if I die. Say if I do, I won't have college, work, taxes, you name it. I'm going to die alone regardless so it really doesn't matter to me. However as long as I'm alive, I'll make the most of it, I have videogames, a loving family and a few really good friends, so I'm hanging in there.
"I was in a state..."
I was in a state of non existence for one eternity already. Then I was born. One day I will go back to not existing for another eternity. I may as well make the time in between long and enjoyable.
I find it fascinating that people are so afraid of death and can't comprehend no longer existing especially when all of time before they were born was just like that.
"My dad and I..."
My dad and I went on a white water rafting trip to celebrate my acceptance to my first-choice university. On day 3, we went sideways through a curler. The boat flipped and my dad was launched from his seat while I was stuck inside. The second I hit the water I reflexively emptied my lungs.
After struggling and failing to pull my way out from underneath, I accepted that I was going to die. Then I remembered that my dad was with me, and I knew that he would blame himself if I died. I had to fight the buoyancy of my life jacket, but I managed to swim under the gunnel and resurface on the other side.
I spent the rest of the day in an existential crisis and came to the decision that I was going to justify my survival through my studies, and eventually, my career.
After having faced death, I no longer fear it. In a sense I'm playing with the house's money, and I'm making the best of it.
"Death is a natural part..."
Death is a natural part of our existence. You can't do anything to prevent it, and sometimes it may come quite early and unexpectedly, and since I only get one life I've decided to do whatever I want with it and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
"When I was a teen..."
When I was a teen, I was diagnosed with epilepsy, in the form of both grand mal and absence seizures. It took quite awhile to get them under control, and my identity changed in the process. I grieved, both for the change in my future life, and for the loss of who I had been. I came to terms with the changes.
I've already seized in the shower and been hung in the loop of the showerhead like a noose. I've already seized and fallen down a set of concrete steps and hit my head. I've seized and hit my head on a countertop and ripped my back open on a baseboard.
I live with the possibility of dying every day. Death will come sooner or later, and it's useless to fight it. I don't know the day or the minute, but when the time comes, I will greet Death as a friend, and hope my family doesn't grieve overmuch for me.
"The thing I actually do..."
I look around and see the atrocities that go on in this world. I see how people die or are murdered, often brutally, for doing nothing. Babies, children, women, and men alike, all killed in the name of someone else's god or other beliefs, or often for no reason at all. Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How can death be so scary when it not only is inevitable, but it happens to people like that all the time?
Not to mention the rest of the animal kingdom. Animals die in vast quantities we can't even comprehend. Some species even commit suicide as part of their natural life cycle, for one reason or another. There are just so many reasons to believe death is not such a big deal that I've decided to stop fearing it.
I think the only reason we naturally fear it is because it's in our DNA; we are programmed to avoid it at all costs in the interest of propagating ourselves into the future. Evolution made us fear it. If it didn't, we wouldn't have made it this far. (And by "we", I mean all living things).
So, I have come to believe it's not a big deal. It simply can't be, IMO. The alternative (if it really is as scary as I used to think it was), is that we are living in a literal hell.
The thing I actually do still fear is the method of my future death. I only hope that it won't be too drawn out or painful.
"I was diagnosed..."
I was diagnosed with leukemia 2 years ago. It started off as "wait and see" before the lymph node in by neck grew to the size of a softball and it was "chemo... now!"
I work as a medical malpractice attorney. Many of the Plaintiff's I have deposed are dying from stage IV cancer. Many die before we get to trial. For many people, I may be the last person that asks you questions about your entire life before you go back to family and friends and live your final days in peace. Meeting me may literally be the worst day of the rest of your life.
have seen many people staring in the face of death from cancer. Some are angry, some are sad, some are bitter, some are at peace. I always have to stay neutral and resist the urge to share any of their emotions. I don't want to argue with an angry cancer patient any more than I want to cry with a sad one. What I can say is that the people that have found peace with their diagnosis and still find time to joke and laugh at the deposition are my inspiration of who I want to be if I am ever looking at death.
So when I got my diagnosis I was never scared. The first doctor that told me thought I was in shock at how mellow I was with the news. I think I just knew what to expect. I did the chemo and I am now 1 year post-chemo and in remission 7 months with no evidence of disease. Fear of death never appealed to me.
