Accepting Your Mortality

Diddgery

I may be thinking too much for someone who hasn't even completed high school yet, but I've become very nervous about the future if only because I'm having difficulties accepting my own mortality. And not just my own mortality, but the mortality of everything, be it the people that I know, the planet Earth, or the entire universe. So since this is a forum of smart people, I figured I'd ask if and how anyone here has come to accept their own mortality, as a place to start. How does one go about accepting this sort of thing?

Funfetus

Mostly, you learn to accept it by getting older.

Omnutia

You'll generally get more used to things changing as you get older and come to realize things don't go on forever.

Nine Boomer

I'm 16 and I'm confident in my mortality. I feel like this is a bit out of my range, because I haven't explored myself deeply enough to be able to communicate my thoughts effectively. However, if you die right now and your thoughts are "Oh no, I still have stuff to do!", then that's better than "Oh no, I'm dead omgs!"

Eh, how you personally can manage to find you way up to that point, I'm not sure. Just don't chose the path of religion, find your own way.

...

You are going to die, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. So will your mother, your father, siblings, uncles and aunts, your cousins, your grandparents if these have not yet kicked the bucket. Your neighbour will die, the stranger you walk past in the supermarket will die, the blade of grass at the side of the road will die, the polar bear you see in a WWF commercial will die, the sun too will die.

Now, you can just sit there, panicking, horrified at the thought that your body will perish. Or you can say "I'm going to die. Now what?" and go do something fun. What would you prefer to say after you die, "Shit, all I did was worry about the inevitable." or "Damn, already? I was going to bungee-jump again tomorrow with Bob." If something is inevitable it makes no sense at all to worry about. Worrying will only cost you time that you could spent tasting every flavour of Ben & Jerry ice cream.

Admiral Hotcakes

Now, you can just sit there, panicking, horrified at the thought that your body will perish. Or you can say "I'm going to die. Now what?" and go do something fun. What would you prefer to say after you die, "Shit, all I did was worry about the inevitable." or "Damn, already? I was going to bungee-jump again tomorrow with Bob." If something is inevitable it makes no sense at all to worry about. Worrying will only cost you time that you could spent tasting every flavour of Ben & Jerry ice cream.

Why I am an atheist, in a nutshell.

Sail

Mostly, you learn to accept it by getting older.

I remember a few years ago when I would think of death every night and be frightened by it. But not anymore. I think it's something that most teenagers go through .

MrRoboto

Sleep less, try to jam as much stuff you like to do in that time, no regrets, no waste, makes for a great life.

Nine Boomer

Worrying will only cost you time that you could spent tasting every flavour of Ben & Jerry ice cream.

Then again, that would also cost you time because you'll become fat and possibly die from some obesity related disease. Death is everywhere, you can't avoid it. You have a chance of dying every time you're in a car. You might suffer from a major heart attack right now from some undetected genetic fluke. You can get run over by a car. You could have a car crash into something, lunching the person in it through the windshield and into you at 60 miles per hour. You could be sleeping and have a car crash through your second floor window and land on you, which then proceeds to eat all the Ben & Jerry ice cream you wanted to try. If you put yourself in a giant metal cocoon, you aren't going to do anything in life. Come out of your metal shell and enjoy what you have, just be responsible and don't throw your life away.

fuurin

At the age of 5 I broke down in tears when I realised that everyone was going to die one day. The thought scared the crap out of me. Now with some hindsight I think it was mostly because death was something big, mysterious and unknown. It was a dark billowing cloud, inevitably hovering at the end of my days and, even scarier (because it was closer) at my parents' days.

Fear of the unknown is common and I think fear of death often comes from the same source. As cliché as it might be, death is a part of life. Just like the weather, there is no point in worrying about something that you have no control over. Although, using that same analogy, by making long term plans for your life, living healthy, and not being reckless or stupid, you might be able to affect when and how the end will come - just like how we should all be making a long-term efforts to ward off further global warming.
There are so many reasons why you should make the most of your time, even without death as the ultimate argument, but I find the whole "live every day as if it was your last!" advice to be quite difficult to apply, at least if you take it literally. Enjoying the little things in life, following your heart and caring for family and friends is a good approach and will probably make you feel happier and more fulfilled in general, whenever the end might come.

Bronzdragon

I deal with it by not caring. So what if I die? I am not afraid of death. I wouldn't even know that I was dead.

...

Enjoying the little things in life, following your heart and caring for family and friends is a good approach and will probably make you feel happier and more fulfilled in general, whenever the end might come.

That is not living every day as if it was your last? It would be rather shallow if you think that. If you find the advice of living your every day as if it is your last difficult to apply, you are doing it wrong. Most likely due to having the wrong impression of what it means.

because you'll become fat and possibly die from some obesity related disease.

Eh? From tasting Ben & Jerry ice cream flavours? They only have a hundred of so flavours, if you taste them all at the same time that only adds up to a simple 3 scoop ice cream. Perhaps 4 scoops if you overload the taste spoons. How could you get fat from that? |_|??

Bronzdragon

if you taste them all at the same time that only adds up to a simple 3 scoop ice cream. Perhaps 4 scoops if you overload the taste spoons.

If you eat only a teaspoon at a time, you are doing it wrong.

Nine Boomer

if you taste them all at the same time that only adds up to a simple 3 scoop ice cream. Perhaps 4 scoops if you overload the taste spoons.

If you eat only a teaspoon at a time, you are doing it wrong.

One of these for every flavor is how you do it:

Great, now I'm craving for ice-cream.

Funfetus

Sleep less,

You probably shouldn't sleep less, actually -- at least not if you're not oversleeping already. Good sleep is very important to living a long, healthy, quality life.

lackofcheese

I believe it is said that most people should aim for 6-8 hours of sleep, 7 being optimal.

MrRoboto

It depends on the person, I'm just saying, don't stay in bed late on your days off, don't go to bed because you are bored, etc.

Irascible

It depends on the person, I'm just saying, don't stay in bed late on your days off, don't go to bed because you are bored, etc.

Are you kidding? Sleeping late on weekends is one of the simplest joys you can have, I agree don't go to bed because you're bored but a nice, long and self indulgent weekend sleep is definitely something to at least do occasionally.

As some of the other people in the thread have stated you do come to accept your own mortality when you get older. However an easy way to deal with death is to realise that it's inevitable and being as such you can't stop it and worrying about it is a waste of time, time you could spend writing a novel or something.

Churba

I fear death almost infinitely less than I'm craving ice-cream right now, Damn you all.

Cremlian

I fear the end only as i loath the end of a great party. Hoping it will go on long into the night but making the most of every minute.

Funfetus

As some of the other people in the thread have stated you do come to accept your own mortality when you get older. However an easy way to deal with death is to realise that it's inevitable and being as such you can't stop it and worrying about it is a waste of time, time you could spend writing a novel or something.

That's true. What I meant had more to do with the fact that, at least for me, the fact that I really am going to get old and die wasn't really REAL to me until well after I was out of high school.

TheWhaleShark

Live your life and don't worry about it. Death happens. It's really that simple.

Most people have to experience the death of a loved one before they can really, truly come to grips with their mortality. It's one of those experiences we all have, and it's valuable in helping us to realize what it means to truly be alive.

Dkong

I deal with it by not caring. So what if I die? I am not afraid of death. I wouldn't even know that I was dead.

This. I used to be only slightly afraid of death, now I just don't care. Shit happens. It's not something that has ever kept me up awake at night thinking about it.

I think it's something that most teenagers go through .

I wouldn't say that. I never went through that. None of my good friends, who would talk to me about something like this, have ever went through that.

Sir_Xander

Read Slaughterhouse five by Kurt Vonnegut, at the end of that my view of life and death had changed. I'm only 17 and my view on life is 'live fast, die fun' and on death is; as Vonnegut said;"So it goes." If I die today, oh well; if I die tomorrow; one more day to have fun.

Churba

I look at it like this - If I die, I die. If I don't, party on. Shit happens, and eventually, inevitably it's going to happen to me, but if it's inevitable, why worry? Can't stop it.

fuurin

Enjoying the little things in life, following your heart and caring for family and friends is a good approach and will probably make you feel happier and more fulfilled in general, whenever the end might come.

That is not living every day as if it was your last? It would be rather shallow if you think that. If you find the advice of living your every day as if it is your last difficult to apply, you are doing it wrong. Most likely due to having the wrong impression of what it means.

Shallow? For wanting to spend my last day with family? As it is now, I can stand an hour or two on a daily basis, but hardly longer than that, and I much prefer long periods when I can be on my own. Would anyone still go to school, to work, if they knew they weren't going to wake up to another morning? Some perhaps, but I find it more likely that you would do something out of the ordinary.

Funfetus

Live your life and don't worry about it. Death happens. It's really that simple

You know, what scares me a lot more than death is just getting old. I'm not even 30 yet, and already it hurts to get out of bed most mornings. I can't imagine what I'll feel like in another 30 years. And if I ever get to the point where I can't take care of basic...functions on my own... I don't even want to think about it.

TheWhaleShark

Live your life and don't worry about it. Death happens. It's really that simple

You know, what scares me a lot more than death is just getting old. I'm not even 30 yet, and already it hurts to get out of bed most mornings. I can't imagine what I'll feel like in another 30 years. And if I ever get to the point where I can't take care of basic...functions on my own... I don't even want to think about it.

I have mixed feelings about getting old. Thinning hair, not so good. The knowledge that I've changed so much in the past FOUR years, and I still have like 60 or so to go, is very exciting.

...

If you eat

Eat != taste. Crazy kids. You aren't going to enjoy every flavour, so it'll become torture to finish the bins of not-delicious ice cream. Example one, any coffee flavour.

Shallow? For wanting to spend my last day with family?

How the fuck did you draw that bullshit from my post? That's the exact opposi-oh...

Would anyone still go to school, to work, if they knew they weren't going to wake up to another morning? Some perhaps, but I find it more likely that you would do something out of the ordinary.

this explains. You just do not yet truly understand what it means.

...

Live your life and don't worry about it. Death happens. It's really that simple

You know, what scares me a lot more than death is just getting old. I'm not even 30 yet, and already it hurts to get out of bed most mornings. I can't imagine what I'll feel like in another 30 years. And if I ever get to the point where I can't take care of basic...functions on my own... I don't even want to think about it.

I have mixed feelings about getting old. Thinning hair, not so good. The knowledge that I've changed so much in the past FOUR years, and I still have like 60 or so to go, is very exciting.

I've been mourning the loss of my teens since I grew twenty, last year. Ten years ago I was a little child, was the youngest and one of the shortest of my class, since then I've grown in body, in mind, in my self-understanding. I can now drive a car, drink booze, smoke, do drugs, own or rent my own house, have real discussions. Yeah, I agree with TheWhaleShark, growing old is exciting. Already 10 year-olds call me 'mister'. Who knows what 10 year-olds will call me in another 10 years!

"KYU OJIISAN!" *shudder*

Funfetus

I have mixed feelings about getting old. Thinning hair, not so good. The knowledge that I've changed so much in the past FOUR years, and I still have like 60 or so to go, is very exciting.

You know, you're absolutely right. I neglected to mention that. The PHYSICAL part of getting old scares me. The rest of it is actually really great. I'm a much happier person now than I was as a teenager.

My favorite thing about getting older is that I no longer feel any need to be "cool" to anyone.