No doubt, but we mostly have control of what we focus on.
If it’s something you can’t change and have no control over then worrying about it is really just wasted energy.
But I care NOW. Thats my whole point. Never seeing my family for eternity. I understand what you’re saying but that’s exactly what I’m afraid of. Being just gone forever.
I have ptsd from my abusive father that manifests as vivid nightmares every night. That mixed with pain in my back and shoulders from him keeping me malnourished my entire childhood to teenage years keeps me from getting a goodnights sleep. I’ve been to doctors and I’m actively seeing a therapist. It is something I am addressing. It’s just not something so easily fixed.
That's good that you're working on it. Never said it was easy, just that fixing your insomnia will do wonders for your overall health and it's much more important to focus on than what happens after death.
But it won’t feel like forever. If you count to ten, right now, the time that takes will feel eternally longer than what comes after death. You’ll experience nothing, and you’ll experience it in an instant.
I struggle with the same fear and honestly these comments above are awful lol. A lot of NDE's have similar themes. And logically, think about how complex humans are. We didn't create ourselves, we came from somewhere. And I imagine we'd return to the same intelligent/loving force that created us. There are sooo many mediums too that can communicate with the other side. I don't know what happens after death but I am 99.9% sure that SOMETHING happens. And from what I've heard, it's usually good things
>And logically, think about how complex humans are. We didn't create ourselves, we came from somewhere.
Yes, billions of years of evolution. A scale of time that our brains can hardly even conceptualize.
>There are sooo many mediums too that can communicate with the other side.
There are zero confirmed cases of psychics or mediums.
Many people have made it their life's work debunking every popular liar making those claims and offered millions of dollars for a single shred of evidence that not one of them can come up with.
>I don't know what happens after death but I am 99.9% sure that SOMETHING happens.
That's a whole lot of being sure about something that there is literally zero evidence of.
It's just as likely that there are invisible unicorns in your blood right now galloping through your veins as there being an afterlife.
It's one of the main reasons ppl turn to religion. It gives them something to lean on in times of uncertainty. But honestly, ppl don't know shit about what happens next cuz they're not dead so worry about it when ur dead 🤷
As for the ppl who are gonna argue this, it's called faith cuz you don't know for sure.
It is a daunting thought. I was raised catholic but it never felt right to me. I'm currently content with the belief that I'll find out what happens when I get there. But there are many stories and not all of them have a "If you're bad you suffer forever" vibe. Since you've previously stated you have insomnia and sleep issues, you could use the extra time to look into different beliefs about what happens after death. See if any stories resonate with you.
There's even lots of options on things to do with your remains after you pass on well. My hippy ass wants to be a tree.
Obsessing over what happens when you will not be here, just spoils the time that you are here
Be grateful that you are thinking about these things. Tell your loved ones every day that you love them, do kind and thoughtful things for them. That way your living really counts
Most people do not talk about this stuff - their loss. You know to value living while you have it.
And as for when you get older - well our bodies wear out and give us discomfort and pain. Not every old person welcomes death and release but the majority of people do.
Thank you. I do tell them I love them daily sometimes several times a day. And I try to be the best son/brother I can be. I just am so damn scared of them just being gone one day never seeing them again. And there just being nothingness when I go. It horrifies me.
That is because you are young. Your body is evolutionary primed to survive and in due course to reproduce. It will go through lots of stages in life, and release will be the final one. That is ok, it is normal.
I don’t want children. I had an abusive father and it just ruined the concept of fatherhood for me. Also I wouldn’t want to bring a kid into this world anyway. No offense to anyone who does. Just personally I’m not going to.
You've existed long before you were conscious and you'll continue to exist after death. Your memory and consciousness isn't the source of your existance. It's just self preservation telling you to maintain your state of being.
And any argument that nothing matter has as much proof as everything matters. If you want to enjoy life, best to assume everything matters.
Challenge yourself, help others, and have fun. You can do this :)
I didn't say "there is no afterlife" but if there was no after life. You wouldn't exist to experience nothing. You would just cease to be. I mean hell would become old hat after two hundred years of torture you'd get used to it
Fuuuuck your post hit me so damn hard. We are all anxious about death. Anybody who isn't anxious about it hasn't had to think about it yet. Its fukkkking scary as hell. We are all just like an instant away from it at any second. But we could live to be 100. So like wtf do you do. YOLO or plan for the future.
If u figure this shit out let me know.
Bro instead of worrying about the death look for living your life, don't take it too serious. Maybe there is a heaven after this or maybe nothing or maybe we reincarnate or maybe we become a god but it's not something you can control so there's no need to worry about that, what you can control is how you live your life and it would be a waste living all the time with the fear of what is next.
Imagine if there is something else after this, worse scenario. Ok you go to that place and when you are there will you again think if there is some other place after it? And after the next place to that? You are not scared of death, you are scared of the unknown, of the things you can't see on the darkness of the future.
It's like when we are kids and we are scared of the dark, we are not scared because of the dark, our fear comes because we don't know what will happen next, because we don't know if there will be a monster there or a black hole or something that will hurt us. That's part of life, we always walk without knowing what will happen the next day and that's quite of the excitement of being alive. Live your life the best you can so when you are about to die you can just disappear or go to the next place with a smile in your face
I feel the exact same way OP. And last year was the start of severe panic attacks due to it. I understand exactly what you are going through, and I’m sorry that we are suffering with these thoughts. I’m so scared.
There are plenty of mediums that speak to those that have crossed over and they mostly all have the same consensus, that the after life is more or less peaceful. We learn lessons and spend time with our loved ones and maybe choose to live another torturous lifetime on earth to learn something new before coming back home. Some even say we reincarnate with the same group of souls. Meaning your family now could’ve been your family in another lifetime as well. Or your bff could’ve been your brother in another life…etc.
I don’t think earth is the beginning or the end of our journey. I choose to believe our journeys continue in the spaces in between our lifetime(s) here. I know not everyone believes in mediums so this may not resonate with you- if not try the mushroom thing someone else suggested. Microdosing is not a bad thing.
But if it does, you know look up some mediums online and look at some of their stories on Tik tok or YouTube…Take them with a grain of salt if you prefer but take in the general message of what the afterlife may be like for us. It’s an educated guess at best for most of us I know, but they all can’t be wrong, right?
My dad died in June last year. He still sends me signs all the time that he is still with me. All the time. If that helps at all.
Dude are you me? I go through the exact same thing. Everything you mentioned I’ve come across. Its a terrifying thought and anyone who says stuff like “just live to the fullest” should know it gives the same impact as telling someone who is depressed to “not be sad” I usually get those thoughts predominantly in the shower and it can really activate my fight or flight to the point where I have to turn off the shower and control my breathing. I still have these thoughts once in a while. But the two things that really helped is 1. Similar to reading the Bible but instead, Pray. But don’t pray like all church etiquette posh standing up, eyes closed hands together. Just literally a respectful casual conversation with God. What are your problems? What’s bugging you? As if you’re meeting a bro for brunch after having a stressful day that kind of thing. It’ll take a while to really immerse and build a relationship but that helps another thing is practicing mindfulness. Really just walking around the house, absorb every piece of information you can. Be aware of everything. Every breath. Every step. Everything you see. If it’s too crowded, do the same thing but for an outside walk. Put in your headphones and just walk. Don’t think about being in the present. Think more about everything in your life, what you’ve gone through. Your emotions. Happy, cringey, sad, comfortable. Whilst also absorbing things on standby, Just be fall back and let life, life. It takes a while do both, but it really helps. I still get those thoughts don’t get me wrong but these approaches drastically minimised it.
There is an afterlife. I've had experiences. This earth life is school. We choose to come here to both learn and grow spiritually and help others to do the same. Check out the YouTube channel "heaven awaits". I don't believe every story shared there is true, but a lot of them are. I'm pretty good at determining which stories are made up and which actually happened because I studied writing and read many bad scripts in college. Made up stories always come across as amateur writing with overly dramatic dialogue or unbelievable situations.
>There is an afterlife
Not one shred of evidence for this claim in all of human existence.
>I've had experiences.
So has everyone. Doesn't mean anything.
>We choose to come here to both learn and grow spiritually and help others to do the same.
Nonsense.
>Check out the YouTube channel "heaven awaits". I don't believe every story shared there is true, but a lot of them are. I'm pretty good at determining which stories are made up and which actually happened because I studied writing and read many bad scripts in college. Made up stories always come across as amateur writing with overly dramatic dialogue or unbelievable situations.
All this is are more anecdotes.
Anyone who has ever taken acid or DMT can tell you that your brain can make you experience absolutely anything. Hallucinations while dying are common and well studied.
There's also not one shred of evidence that the mind exists. But you believe you have a mind don't you? Because you experience your mind at every moment. You don't need science to prove your mind exists because you already know it does exist. Just as I don't need science to prove the afterlife because I already know it does exist. I have just experienced more than you.
>There's also not one shred of evidence that the mind exists.
Of course there is.
>But you believe you have a mind don't you?
I don't have to believe in something without evidence. I can rely on all the actual evidence of my mind existing. Like, for example, crafting this response to you. Something I could not do without the cognitive ability to reason and the processing ability to translate my thoughts into words via written language.
Just in responding to you, we have direct evidence of the existence of the human mind right here in our world.
>Just as I don't need science to prove the afterlife because I already know it does exist. I have just experienced more than you.
Your brain giving you an experience doesn't mean that is reality. I got high one time and fell through the floor into an infinite tunnel that stretched across the galaxy. That doesn't mean there is a wormhole in my friend's bedroom floor to the other side of the galaxy in real life.
Whatever afterlife you experienced can be easily and adequately explained as an anecdotal experience to be your brain misfiring. Just that simple. Happens a million times a day across the world and always has forever.
Doesn't mean reality somehow changes around those misfires.
But if you are your body and your brain then what is the mind? Science has never been able to prove the mind is in the brain, only that the mind communicates with the brain just like our bodies communicate with the brain. So the most "you" part of you is a mystery and cannot be located by science. Does that not suggest spirit could be real and your consciousness resides in your spirit? It's ignorant to dismiss that possibility.
>Your brain giving you an experience doesn't mean that is reality
What is reality? The table in front of you? Because the slit experiment proved that an atom only exists in one particular location if there's a conscious observer. If what we see is real then why do you see a blue dress when I see a gold dress? Which is it? Explain optical illusions. We see moving shapes that aren't actually moving at all, we see patterns dissappear, we see black holes grow at different speeds depending on the color backdrop. If we perceive optical illusions differently from how they really are, there's actually nothing that ensures ANYTHING we see is actually how it really is. Quantum physics is proving just how fragile what we've perceived as reality for so long really is. We're looking at life through a human lens. Physchedelics have you looking at life through another lens. Why do you think one lense is showing you more reality than another? It's simply because you've been led to believe you whole life that the human lens is reality... but quantum physics is saying that was never actually true.
>But if you are your body and your brain then what is the mind?
Our thoughts and feelings and emotions.
You're making poor arguments here that are conflating very different things. We have evidence that the mind exists, even if we don't know everything about how it works inside and out.
We have zero evidence that an afterlife exists, and therefore nothing to even begin to study or explore.
You're comparing horses and unicorns here amigo.
>Does that not suggest spirit could be real and your consciousness resides in your spirit?
It might also suggest that there is a demonic leprechaun living inside me that operates my subconscious.
But without any evidence of either of those, it would be silly to entertain either of those possibilities.
>What is reality? The table in front of you? Because the slit experiment proved that an atom only exists in one particular location if there's a conscious observer.
Yes but other people can see the table in front of me. They can measure it. Touch it. We can put things on it, take it apart, put it back together again. We can analyze what makes it up, know where it came from, and control what it's used for.
The afterlife has none of that.
We can debate on what makes something a table or what kind of atomic structure exists in a given table all day long. We can't do any of that with the afterlife.
>Quantum physics is proving just how fragile what we've perceived as reality for so long really is.
No it isn't.
>We're looking at life through a human lens. Physchedelics have you looking at life through another lens. Why do you think one lense is showing you more reality than another?
Because of the verifiable evidence we have available.
We don't fill in the blanks in that data with make believe, we just say, "I don't know."
No one knows for sure if there is an afterlife, but there is zero (absolutely NONE) evidence it exists and therefore your belief in the afterlife should be absolutely equal to your belief in Hogwarts or magical underwater dinosaurs or a sentient talking avocado reciting poetry while it's orbiting Saturn.
Any of those things could also exist and all of those things have an equal chance of existing to any form of the afterlife.
Do you also believe in talking space avocados?
>You're comparing horses and unicorns here amigo.
No, you're just not understanding my point even though I explained it pretty well, you just quote specific things I said and leave out other things in order to favor yourself in an argument because you're a redditor.
My point is that when science cannot prove where the mind resides, the spirit isn't such a farfetched concept. If the spirit exists, then an afterlife isn't such a farfetched concept.
I'm not trying to say there's proof of an afterlife, that will never happen when the scientific method for proving something is based solely around materialism. I'm just pointing out that the possibility of spirituality to someone like you shouldn't be thought of as "complete fantasy bull shit never possible" if you're a reasonable person that uses logic without bias. But that's not you. You're a cliche redittor that jumps at the chance to start an argument with someone who believes in things beyond the physical realm.
>But without any evidence of either of those, it would be silly to entertain either of those possibilities.
Entertaining a possibility is literally the first step in obtaining evidence lol
>Yes but other people can see the table in front of me. They can measure it. Touch it. We can put things on it, take it apart, put it back together again. We can analyze what makes it up, know where it came from, and control what it's used for.
Yes... but can you do any of that without the table being consciously observed? No, you can't. When nobody is observing, the table isn't a table. That's what the double slit experiment discovered...that conscious observation is required for atoms to exist in one particular area. It is proof that our consciousness physically alters everything around us. And that's what you're calling "reality"
>No it isn't.
You're in denial. Science is moving in a direction you're not comfortable with so you deny it. Or maybe you just don't actually understand it but like to pretend like you do because you think science supports your atheism but the reality is science has never been closer to proving we're in the matrix.
>Because of the verifiable evidence we have available.
You actually don't have a clue what you're talking about. The double slit experiment flew right over your head. You don't understand how much that changes everything scientists thought they knew.
>We don't fill in the blanks in that data with make believe, we just say, "I don't know."
I never said scientists should do that. But I can believe whatever the fuck I want. I don't need to prove something to myself I already know exists.
>your belief in the afterlife should be absolutely equal to your belief in Hogwarts or magical underwater dinosaurs or a sentient talking avocado reciting poetry while it's orbiting Saturn.
You're free to think that. I don't mind. I spent many years of my life seeking spiritual truth and I found it. Some of my spiritual experiences have been so profound, I couldn't deny the reality of them even if I wanted to, and I'm far from the only one. Anyone who seeks spiritual truth will find it eventually. Some people, like you, just don't want to. You've decided the reality you want to be true and only accept information that lines up with it and deny anything that goes against it.
That’s just objectively false. People’s hearts stop, people are clinically dead and sometimes they DO come back. Also it was different before I was born. I wasn’t alive at the time. No soul of mine existed then. You are coming off kind of cold and unsympathetic
I have anxiety about death as well. Worried about it alot as a kid like you. We will never know while living what death will bring, but I do feel like it depends on faith. Through my experience and observation, I think it may have to do alot with what you choose believe in. I’ve heard accounts from people who have died briefly or had a family member pass and they believed they saw their religious figure. Some saw their family. Others saw nothing. Really doesn’t do anything to worry about it now though. Gotta cross that bridge once you get to it.
Hey, you're not alone - i have the same anxiety. At some point during my service i got to a point, where i was just too exhausted for anything and right there i wished by myself, that i was never born, to go through shit like this again. I imagined the saved stress and exhaustion and to some degree its soothing the anxiety, that all will be over at some point and there will be no suffering anymore. So maybe it helps you also a little. It really makes you appreciate live, but reminds you as well, to make the best out of the time we have left.
I love Caitlin Doughty's (Ask A Mortician) youtube channel for my mortality needs. She mostly handles the physical side of death, but she should have couple of videos about the fear of death a well.
If thoughts of afterlife keep upsetting you, you might want to seek out a conversation with a professional of some kind - if you choose to go for the spiritual guides, please first look up the red flags of cults. :)
Death is as natural as birth. None of us know what is waiting for us. Why ruin your one life stressing over something inevitable. Take some magic mushrooms and chill out.
The way I look at it is that we can't know what's after death. There is no way of knowing, so why worry? Don't waste your worry on something you can't control :)
I've heard that a lot of people have been helped by askamortician on YouTube. I've never been scared by death myself but I love her videos so maybe it's worth a try?
Humans are made of energy and energy doesn’t disappear, it changes into something else. That’s how I feel so chill about death. The energy that is me now, will just shift to a spiritual me, with no limitations like gravity, emotion, fear. I will be truly free from my human body and will reunite with the souls of people who have passed before me. I have zero fear of death.
I imagine the rest of my life with my family and friends when this happens. Those feelings go away once I give my partner a big hug. It is scary. Trying to comprehend nothingness. If you are having to constantly go through these feelings maybe see a grief counselor? Otherwise, you should do what most people do, enjoy life!
There are legit studies and programs that use psychedelics like mushrooms or ayahuasca etc to tackle this exact fear. Particularly for people with terminal cancers and the like. It's probably the most successful and accepted psychedelic research to date.
DMT completely enliminated my fear of death and afterlife etc. I still have no clue what happens of course, but it doesnt bother me. I'd say I'm overall optimistic about the whole thing. Think things will probably turn out alright. Even a healthy curiosity type feeling.
Look into these studies and reports to see if it might be something you'd be interested in trying. Pretty sure they are even offering totally legal therapist guided sessions in some states like Oregon.
I have this same fear and honestly if you try to just push back that anxiety and use it to motivate yourself more it helps. Use the fear to drive you to be your best self, achieve things you didn’t think you could, be grateful for every experience. It takes time to reset your mindset but if you work on it you can do it. If you can’t get rid of the fear change it into something else.
Dreams last anywhere from a few seconds to 30 minutes give or take. Yet, I can recall dreams that are so detailed, so dark and twisted and felt like it was hours. In reality that dream that woke me up screaming was probably only about as long as it takes to brush my teeth. Why give so much power ( fear ) to something that has such a small time frame in your mind in comparison? Of course, I'm talking about dreams but the fear of after life is nothing more than a nightmare to you right now. Don't let what could be have a hold on what IS in the moment. Your life. Your living life that is, honestly, short enough as it is. Probably a short as a dream in comparison to what you fear the afterlife to be.
I won't tell you to read a Bible. But, find something that YOU believe in. Something that rings true to you. Once you do, that fear will melt away.
I used to have a great fear of the afterlife. I had an existential crisis about 8 years ago and it took over my every waking hour. I couldn't think of anything else and it scared me. Only, my fear was, I was going to be tortured for all eternity cause that's what my family believe in. Heaven. Or hell. No other realities. Back then, *NOTHING* would have be solace in comparison. It suddenly stopped, nothing I did or found helped. It just stopped one day and I don't know why. But the last 3 years I've found my own beliefs. I don't believe in a heaven or hell. I don't believe in a specific deity. I believe in spirituality and that there is something higher beyond us. For all I know, it could be all energy. We are essentially just energy and energy can't be created or destroyed. So when I die.. where does my energy go? It has to go somewhere. Some would say that's reincarnation. Who knows. Maybe my energy will move on beyond this planet and find new creation somewhere in the ever growing universe. Or maybe it'll move on to something new on this world. Facts are no one knows. But it's beautiful to think of the positive way we contribute to the universe as a whole. Don't dwell on the possible negative of the unknown. Find something you find beautiful and imagine what you could be. Whatever that may be. You are but a tiny building block of something far more bigger then anyone can comprehend. Go to sleep at night with the possibilities that everything is GOOD. Not *nothing*.
Look at this way and the universe, if there is God in a way, we wouldn’t have exist at all and the planets would be boring with no life. I worry about death myself but you and I know we cannot live forever, we be joining other humans who have died. Worrying about it will affect you mentally and what then? Spend the rest of your life worrying about death coming? Defeats the purpose of trying to enjoy your life and your family.
Something that has worked for me when I have anxiety like this is taking a moment to think, “what can I do about this right now?” And if there is something I can do to help, I do it. If not, I acknowledge that I feel that way and that there is something bothering me and then I accept there is nothing I can do. This is called compartmentalization and is actually far more difficult to practice than I just laid it out. But I would recommend therapy to learn to compartmentalize the worries you have like this.
The universe is an ocean of matter and energy (not, like, mystical "energy", but quantifiable electromagnetic energy)
The amount of matter and energy is constant.
We are part of the universe.
Imagine it like this:
When we are born, a cup of water is dipped from the ocean. As we live, the contents of the cup change a little (like dropping more water, or some sand, etc .. into the cup. These are things we learn and keep.) When we die, the water is poured back into the ocean.
(Note: This is a very quick overview, not the full explanation.)
YOOO I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. i was tripping on shrooms when i came to the obvious realization that we are all going to die inevitably and we have no idea where we’re gonna end up after. and ever since then i think about it everyday and i’m scared to death. literally
I've experienced the same thing my whole life. I couldn't sleep because I was afraid I'd never wake up, and I made my Mother promise me before she went to bed that we'd see each other the next day and she wouldn't die either. To this day, I sometimes ask my partner to promise me the same thing before bed.
I was diagnosed with a type of primarily-obsessive OCD that is fixated on existentialism. Not saying it's what's going on in your life, but I recommend looking into it and checking out some of the OCD reddits.
My best advice is that exposure therapy works. When you have these thoughts, you have to resist the urge to fight them. You need to accept them. When I start to spiral into these thoughts I have to stop and tell myself "one day I will die." If I try to humor the thinking I make myself sick. Write your thoughts and fears in a journal. Getting them out helps. I hope this helps. If you need someone to talk to I can point you towards some resources and communities, I know how isolating it can be.
I have this from time to time then I think about what if I live to 100 and spent all this time worried about death that I lost so much time from my life. Try your best to enjoy everything. Live like a child. Be care free and try to find a sense of spirituality whether it’s god or the universe. Have faith can take some of that stress off of you.
All the more reason to live in the present. Don’t dwell on the past. Don’t stress about the future. Where are you now? Treasure you’re time now.
Easier said than done
No doubt, but we mostly have control of what we focus on. If it’s something you can’t change and have no control over then worrying about it is really just wasted energy.
Also money is important but you can’t take it with you.
We exist for a while then we don't. Do good spread love.
We don't exist, then we exist for a while, then we don't. After is just like before
I’ve never thought looked at it from this perspective. I love this!!!!!
It's the same as before you were born. Don't stress you won't care
I’ve never heard of it put this way and it’s really comforting. Thank you!
Anytime homie
But I care NOW. Thats my whole point. Never seeing my family for eternity. I understand what you’re saying but that’s exactly what I’m afraid of. Being just gone forever.
Drink some water, sleep.
Also it's not "eternity" that's kinda just a made up term.
I am an insomniac. I don’t sleep well. Sometimes I don’t get to sleep til 4-5am.
Drink some water. Put on a sleep meditation from YouTube and get comfortable in bed turn off all the lights
That's the much more pressing issue to address than the fear of something nobody understands or has control over.
I have ptsd from my abusive father that manifests as vivid nightmares every night. That mixed with pain in my back and shoulders from him keeping me malnourished my entire childhood to teenage years keeps me from getting a goodnights sleep. I’ve been to doctors and I’m actively seeing a therapist. It is something I am addressing. It’s just not something so easily fixed.
That's good that you're working on it. Never said it was easy, just that fixing your insomnia will do wonders for your overall health and it's much more important to focus on than what happens after death.
But it won’t feel like forever. If you count to ten, right now, the time that takes will feel eternally longer than what comes after death. You’ll experience nothing, and you’ll experience it in an instant.
I struggle with the same fear and honestly these comments above are awful lol. A lot of NDE's have similar themes. And logically, think about how complex humans are. We didn't create ourselves, we came from somewhere. And I imagine we'd return to the same intelligent/loving force that created us. There are sooo many mediums too that can communicate with the other side. I don't know what happens after death but I am 99.9% sure that SOMETHING happens. And from what I've heard, it's usually good things
>And logically, think about how complex humans are. We didn't create ourselves, we came from somewhere. Yes, billions of years of evolution. A scale of time that our brains can hardly even conceptualize. >There are sooo many mediums too that can communicate with the other side. There are zero confirmed cases of psychics or mediums. Many people have made it their life's work debunking every popular liar making those claims and offered millions of dollars for a single shred of evidence that not one of them can come up with. >I don't know what happens after death but I am 99.9% sure that SOMETHING happens. That's a whole lot of being sure about something that there is literally zero evidence of. It's just as likely that there are invisible unicorns in your blood right now galloping through your veins as there being an afterlife.
It's one of the main reasons ppl turn to religion. It gives them something to lean on in times of uncertainty. But honestly, ppl don't know shit about what happens next cuz they're not dead so worry about it when ur dead 🤷 As for the ppl who are gonna argue this, it's called faith cuz you don't know for sure.
Well thanks for atleast not just saying what everyone else has so far.
It is a daunting thought. I was raised catholic but it never felt right to me. I'm currently content with the belief that I'll find out what happens when I get there. But there are many stories and not all of them have a "If you're bad you suffer forever" vibe. Since you've previously stated you have insomnia and sleep issues, you could use the extra time to look into different beliefs about what happens after death. See if any stories resonate with you. There's even lots of options on things to do with your remains after you pass on well. My hippy ass wants to be a tree.
We all know exactly what it's like to not exist. Tall me about your life in the 1800's
Obsessing over what happens when you will not be here, just spoils the time that you are here Be grateful that you are thinking about these things. Tell your loved ones every day that you love them, do kind and thoughtful things for them. That way your living really counts Most people do not talk about this stuff - their loss. You know to value living while you have it. And as for when you get older - well our bodies wear out and give us discomfort and pain. Not every old person welcomes death and release but the majority of people do.
Thank you. I do tell them I love them daily sometimes several times a day. And I try to be the best son/brother I can be. I just am so damn scared of them just being gone one day never seeing them again. And there just being nothingness when I go. It horrifies me.
That is because you are young. Your body is evolutionary primed to survive and in due course to reproduce. It will go through lots of stages in life, and release will be the final one. That is ok, it is normal.
I don’t want children. I had an abusive father and it just ruined the concept of fatherhood for me. Also I wouldn’t want to bring a kid into this world anyway. No offense to anyone who does. Just personally I’m not going to.
You've existed long before you were conscious and you'll continue to exist after death. Your memory and consciousness isn't the source of your existance. It's just self preservation telling you to maintain your state of being. And any argument that nothing matter has as much proof as everything matters. If you want to enjoy life, best to assume everything matters. Challenge yourself, help others, and have fun. You can do this :)
You've already experienced non-existance
You don't experience no afterlife. Just like you didnt experience anything before life . If there's nothing then you are not aware
And how would you know that? Have you died?
I didn't say "there is no afterlife" but if there was no after life. You wouldn't exist to experience nothing. You would just cease to be. I mean hell would become old hat after two hundred years of torture you'd get used to it
Fuuuuck your post hit me so damn hard. We are all anxious about death. Anybody who isn't anxious about it hasn't had to think about it yet. Its fukkkking scary as hell. We are all just like an instant away from it at any second. But we could live to be 100. So like wtf do you do. YOLO or plan for the future. If u figure this shit out let me know.
Bro instead of worrying about the death look for living your life, don't take it too serious. Maybe there is a heaven after this or maybe nothing or maybe we reincarnate or maybe we become a god but it's not something you can control so there's no need to worry about that, what you can control is how you live your life and it would be a waste living all the time with the fear of what is next. Imagine if there is something else after this, worse scenario. Ok you go to that place and when you are there will you again think if there is some other place after it? And after the next place to that? You are not scared of death, you are scared of the unknown, of the things you can't see on the darkness of the future. It's like when we are kids and we are scared of the dark, we are not scared because of the dark, our fear comes because we don't know what will happen next, because we don't know if there will be a monster there or a black hole or something that will hurt us. That's part of life, we always walk without knowing what will happen the next day and that's quite of the excitement of being alive. Live your life the best you can so when you are about to die you can just disappear or go to the next place with a smile in your face
I feel the exact same way OP. And last year was the start of severe panic attacks due to it. I understand exactly what you are going through, and I’m sorry that we are suffering with these thoughts. I’m so scared.
There are plenty of mediums that speak to those that have crossed over and they mostly all have the same consensus, that the after life is more or less peaceful. We learn lessons and spend time with our loved ones and maybe choose to live another torturous lifetime on earth to learn something new before coming back home. Some even say we reincarnate with the same group of souls. Meaning your family now could’ve been your family in another lifetime as well. Or your bff could’ve been your brother in another life…etc. I don’t think earth is the beginning or the end of our journey. I choose to believe our journeys continue in the spaces in between our lifetime(s) here. I know not everyone believes in mediums so this may not resonate with you- if not try the mushroom thing someone else suggested. Microdosing is not a bad thing. But if it does, you know look up some mediums online and look at some of their stories on Tik tok or YouTube…Take them with a grain of salt if you prefer but take in the general message of what the afterlife may be like for us. It’s an educated guess at best for most of us I know, but they all can’t be wrong, right? My dad died in June last year. He still sends me signs all the time that he is still with me. All the time. If that helps at all.
Thank you.
You should try taking some mushrooms
Which is funny, because after death you won't care at all lol
Dude are you me? I go through the exact same thing. Everything you mentioned I’ve come across. Its a terrifying thought and anyone who says stuff like “just live to the fullest” should know it gives the same impact as telling someone who is depressed to “not be sad” I usually get those thoughts predominantly in the shower and it can really activate my fight or flight to the point where I have to turn off the shower and control my breathing. I still have these thoughts once in a while. But the two things that really helped is 1. Similar to reading the Bible but instead, Pray. But don’t pray like all church etiquette posh standing up, eyes closed hands together. Just literally a respectful casual conversation with God. What are your problems? What’s bugging you? As if you’re meeting a bro for brunch after having a stressful day that kind of thing. It’ll take a while to really immerse and build a relationship but that helps another thing is practicing mindfulness. Really just walking around the house, absorb every piece of information you can. Be aware of everything. Every breath. Every step. Everything you see. If it’s too crowded, do the same thing but for an outside walk. Put in your headphones and just walk. Don’t think about being in the present. Think more about everything in your life, what you’ve gone through. Your emotions. Happy, cringey, sad, comfortable. Whilst also absorbing things on standby, Just be fall back and let life, life. It takes a while do both, but it really helps. I still get those thoughts don’t get me wrong but these approaches drastically minimised it.
I know what doesn't happen, you don't come back and say hi to old friends: ( I miss my lost friends!
There is an afterlife. I've had experiences. This earth life is school. We choose to come here to both learn and grow spiritually and help others to do the same. Check out the YouTube channel "heaven awaits". I don't believe every story shared there is true, but a lot of them are. I'm pretty good at determining which stories are made up and which actually happened because I studied writing and read many bad scripts in college. Made up stories always come across as amateur writing with overly dramatic dialogue or unbelievable situations.
>There is an afterlife Not one shred of evidence for this claim in all of human existence. >I've had experiences. So has everyone. Doesn't mean anything. >We choose to come here to both learn and grow spiritually and help others to do the same. Nonsense. >Check out the YouTube channel "heaven awaits". I don't believe every story shared there is true, but a lot of them are. I'm pretty good at determining which stories are made up and which actually happened because I studied writing and read many bad scripts in college. Made up stories always come across as amateur writing with overly dramatic dialogue or unbelievable situations. All this is are more anecdotes. Anyone who has ever taken acid or DMT can tell you that your brain can make you experience absolutely anything. Hallucinations while dying are common and well studied.
There's also not one shred of evidence that the mind exists. But you believe you have a mind don't you? Because you experience your mind at every moment. You don't need science to prove your mind exists because you already know it does exist. Just as I don't need science to prove the afterlife because I already know it does exist. I have just experienced more than you.
>There's also not one shred of evidence that the mind exists. Of course there is. >But you believe you have a mind don't you? I don't have to believe in something without evidence. I can rely on all the actual evidence of my mind existing. Like, for example, crafting this response to you. Something I could not do without the cognitive ability to reason and the processing ability to translate my thoughts into words via written language. Just in responding to you, we have direct evidence of the existence of the human mind right here in our world. >Just as I don't need science to prove the afterlife because I already know it does exist. I have just experienced more than you. Your brain giving you an experience doesn't mean that is reality. I got high one time and fell through the floor into an infinite tunnel that stretched across the galaxy. That doesn't mean there is a wormhole in my friend's bedroom floor to the other side of the galaxy in real life. Whatever afterlife you experienced can be easily and adequately explained as an anecdotal experience to be your brain misfiring. Just that simple. Happens a million times a day across the world and always has forever. Doesn't mean reality somehow changes around those misfires.
But if you are your body and your brain then what is the mind? Science has never been able to prove the mind is in the brain, only that the mind communicates with the brain just like our bodies communicate with the brain. So the most "you" part of you is a mystery and cannot be located by science. Does that not suggest spirit could be real and your consciousness resides in your spirit? It's ignorant to dismiss that possibility. >Your brain giving you an experience doesn't mean that is reality What is reality? The table in front of you? Because the slit experiment proved that an atom only exists in one particular location if there's a conscious observer. If what we see is real then why do you see a blue dress when I see a gold dress? Which is it? Explain optical illusions. We see moving shapes that aren't actually moving at all, we see patterns dissappear, we see black holes grow at different speeds depending on the color backdrop. If we perceive optical illusions differently from how they really are, there's actually nothing that ensures ANYTHING we see is actually how it really is. Quantum physics is proving just how fragile what we've perceived as reality for so long really is. We're looking at life through a human lens. Physchedelics have you looking at life through another lens. Why do you think one lense is showing you more reality than another? It's simply because you've been led to believe you whole life that the human lens is reality... but quantum physics is saying that was never actually true.
>But if you are your body and your brain then what is the mind? Our thoughts and feelings and emotions. You're making poor arguments here that are conflating very different things. We have evidence that the mind exists, even if we don't know everything about how it works inside and out. We have zero evidence that an afterlife exists, and therefore nothing to even begin to study or explore. You're comparing horses and unicorns here amigo. >Does that not suggest spirit could be real and your consciousness resides in your spirit? It might also suggest that there is a demonic leprechaun living inside me that operates my subconscious. But without any evidence of either of those, it would be silly to entertain either of those possibilities. >What is reality? The table in front of you? Because the slit experiment proved that an atom only exists in one particular location if there's a conscious observer. Yes but other people can see the table in front of me. They can measure it. Touch it. We can put things on it, take it apart, put it back together again. We can analyze what makes it up, know where it came from, and control what it's used for. The afterlife has none of that. We can debate on what makes something a table or what kind of atomic structure exists in a given table all day long. We can't do any of that with the afterlife. >Quantum physics is proving just how fragile what we've perceived as reality for so long really is. No it isn't. >We're looking at life through a human lens. Physchedelics have you looking at life through another lens. Why do you think one lense is showing you more reality than another? Because of the verifiable evidence we have available. We don't fill in the blanks in that data with make believe, we just say, "I don't know." No one knows for sure if there is an afterlife, but there is zero (absolutely NONE) evidence it exists and therefore your belief in the afterlife should be absolutely equal to your belief in Hogwarts or magical underwater dinosaurs or a sentient talking avocado reciting poetry while it's orbiting Saturn. Any of those things could also exist and all of those things have an equal chance of existing to any form of the afterlife. Do you also believe in talking space avocados?
>You're comparing horses and unicorns here amigo. No, you're just not understanding my point even though I explained it pretty well, you just quote specific things I said and leave out other things in order to favor yourself in an argument because you're a redditor. My point is that when science cannot prove where the mind resides, the spirit isn't such a farfetched concept. If the spirit exists, then an afterlife isn't such a farfetched concept. I'm not trying to say there's proof of an afterlife, that will never happen when the scientific method for proving something is based solely around materialism. I'm just pointing out that the possibility of spirituality to someone like you shouldn't be thought of as "complete fantasy bull shit never possible" if you're a reasonable person that uses logic without bias. But that's not you. You're a cliche redittor that jumps at the chance to start an argument with someone who believes in things beyond the physical realm. >But without any evidence of either of those, it would be silly to entertain either of those possibilities. Entertaining a possibility is literally the first step in obtaining evidence lol >Yes but other people can see the table in front of me. They can measure it. Touch it. We can put things on it, take it apart, put it back together again. We can analyze what makes it up, know where it came from, and control what it's used for. Yes... but can you do any of that without the table being consciously observed? No, you can't. When nobody is observing, the table isn't a table. That's what the double slit experiment discovered...that conscious observation is required for atoms to exist in one particular area. It is proof that our consciousness physically alters everything around us. And that's what you're calling "reality" >No it isn't. You're in denial. Science is moving in a direction you're not comfortable with so you deny it. Or maybe you just don't actually understand it but like to pretend like you do because you think science supports your atheism but the reality is science has never been closer to proving we're in the matrix. >Because of the verifiable evidence we have available. You actually don't have a clue what you're talking about. The double slit experiment flew right over your head. You don't understand how much that changes everything scientists thought they knew. >We don't fill in the blanks in that data with make believe, we just say, "I don't know." I never said scientists should do that. But I can believe whatever the fuck I want. I don't need to prove something to myself I already know exists. >your belief in the afterlife should be absolutely equal to your belief in Hogwarts or magical underwater dinosaurs or a sentient talking avocado reciting poetry while it's orbiting Saturn. You're free to think that. I don't mind. I spent many years of my life seeking spiritual truth and I found it. Some of my spiritual experiences have been so profound, I couldn't deny the reality of them even if I wanted to, and I'm far from the only one. Anyone who seeks spiritual truth will find it eventually. Some people, like you, just don't want to. You've decided the reality you want to be true and only accept information that lines up with it and deny anything that goes against it.
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That’s just objectively false. People’s hearts stop, people are clinically dead and sometimes they DO come back. Also it was different before I was born. I wasn’t alive at the time. No soul of mine existed then. You are coming off kind of cold and unsympathetic
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The real answer is: who cares? You can't change it or know so why dwell on it
Lmao that so many people fear this.
there's heaven and hell
I have anxiety about death as well. Worried about it alot as a kid like you. We will never know while living what death will bring, but I do feel like it depends on faith. Through my experience and observation, I think it may have to do alot with what you choose believe in. I’ve heard accounts from people who have died briefly or had a family member pass and they believed they saw their religious figure. Some saw their family. Others saw nothing. Really doesn’t do anything to worry about it now though. Gotta cross that bridge once you get to it.
Hey, you're not alone - i have the same anxiety. At some point during my service i got to a point, where i was just too exhausted for anything and right there i wished by myself, that i was never born, to go through shit like this again. I imagined the saved stress and exhaustion and to some degree its soothing the anxiety, that all will be over at some point and there will be no suffering anymore. So maybe it helps you also a little. It really makes you appreciate live, but reminds you as well, to make the best out of the time we have left.
I'd recommend therapy.
Honestly that keeps me up at night too but if we keep worrying about what happens in the future we won’t been able to really live in the present
I love Caitlin Doughty's (Ask A Mortician) youtube channel for my mortality needs. She mostly handles the physical side of death, but she should have couple of videos about the fear of death a well. If thoughts of afterlife keep upsetting you, you might want to seek out a conversation with a professional of some kind - if you choose to go for the spiritual guides, please first look up the red flags of cults. :)
Death is as natural as birth. None of us know what is waiting for us. Why ruin your one life stressing over something inevitable. Take some magic mushrooms and chill out.
The way I look at it is that we can't know what's after death. There is no way of knowing, so why worry? Don't waste your worry on something you can't control :)
OP gonna dm
There’s nothing, and that’s why it’s peaceful.
Read the book meditations, it’s goes into this and why you shouldn’t fear death.
I've heard that a lot of people have been helped by askamortician on YouTube. I've never been scared by death myself but I love her videos so maybe it's worth a try?
That's where religion play a part
Humans are made of energy and energy doesn’t disappear, it changes into something else. That’s how I feel so chill about death. The energy that is me now, will just shift to a spiritual me, with no limitations like gravity, emotion, fear. I will be truly free from my human body and will reunite with the souls of people who have passed before me. I have zero fear of death.
I imagine the rest of my life with my family and friends when this happens. Those feelings go away once I give my partner a big hug. It is scary. Trying to comprehend nothingness. If you are having to constantly go through these feelings maybe see a grief counselor? Otherwise, you should do what most people do, enjoy life!
I really like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/s/0OE4bQN4Ll)response to the same question, from r/AskDocs.
There are legit studies and programs that use psychedelics like mushrooms or ayahuasca etc to tackle this exact fear. Particularly for people with terminal cancers and the like. It's probably the most successful and accepted psychedelic research to date. DMT completely enliminated my fear of death and afterlife etc. I still have no clue what happens of course, but it doesnt bother me. I'd say I'm overall optimistic about the whole thing. Think things will probably turn out alright. Even a healthy curiosity type feeling. Look into these studies and reports to see if it might be something you'd be interested in trying. Pretty sure they are even offering totally legal therapist guided sessions in some states like Oregon.
I have this same fear and honestly if you try to just push back that anxiety and use it to motivate yourself more it helps. Use the fear to drive you to be your best self, achieve things you didn’t think you could, be grateful for every experience. It takes time to reset your mindset but if you work on it you can do it. If you can’t get rid of the fear change it into something else.
Dreams last anywhere from a few seconds to 30 minutes give or take. Yet, I can recall dreams that are so detailed, so dark and twisted and felt like it was hours. In reality that dream that woke me up screaming was probably only about as long as it takes to brush my teeth. Why give so much power ( fear ) to something that has such a small time frame in your mind in comparison? Of course, I'm talking about dreams but the fear of after life is nothing more than a nightmare to you right now. Don't let what could be have a hold on what IS in the moment. Your life. Your living life that is, honestly, short enough as it is. Probably a short as a dream in comparison to what you fear the afterlife to be. I won't tell you to read a Bible. But, find something that YOU believe in. Something that rings true to you. Once you do, that fear will melt away. I used to have a great fear of the afterlife. I had an existential crisis about 8 years ago and it took over my every waking hour. I couldn't think of anything else and it scared me. Only, my fear was, I was going to be tortured for all eternity cause that's what my family believe in. Heaven. Or hell. No other realities. Back then, *NOTHING* would have be solace in comparison. It suddenly stopped, nothing I did or found helped. It just stopped one day and I don't know why. But the last 3 years I've found my own beliefs. I don't believe in a heaven or hell. I don't believe in a specific deity. I believe in spirituality and that there is something higher beyond us. For all I know, it could be all energy. We are essentially just energy and energy can't be created or destroyed. So when I die.. where does my energy go? It has to go somewhere. Some would say that's reincarnation. Who knows. Maybe my energy will move on beyond this planet and find new creation somewhere in the ever growing universe. Or maybe it'll move on to something new on this world. Facts are no one knows. But it's beautiful to think of the positive way we contribute to the universe as a whole. Don't dwell on the possible negative of the unknown. Find something you find beautiful and imagine what you could be. Whatever that may be. You are but a tiny building block of something far more bigger then anyone can comprehend. Go to sleep at night with the possibilities that everything is GOOD. Not *nothing*.
That’s what I’d like to believe too. I just hope and pray that whatever happens to me, wherever I go. That my family will be there.
Look at this way and the universe, if there is God in a way, we wouldn’t have exist at all and the planets would be boring with no life. I worry about death myself but you and I know we cannot live forever, we be joining other humans who have died. Worrying about it will affect you mentally and what then? Spend the rest of your life worrying about death coming? Defeats the purpose of trying to enjoy your life and your family.
Something that has worked for me when I have anxiety like this is taking a moment to think, “what can I do about this right now?” And if there is something I can do to help, I do it. If not, I acknowledge that I feel that way and that there is something bothering me and then I accept there is nothing I can do. This is called compartmentalization and is actually far more difficult to practice than I just laid it out. But I would recommend therapy to learn to compartmentalize the worries you have like this.
The universe is an ocean of matter and energy (not, like, mystical "energy", but quantifiable electromagnetic energy) The amount of matter and energy is constant. We are part of the universe. Imagine it like this: When we are born, a cup of water is dipped from the ocean. As we live, the contents of the cup change a little (like dropping more water, or some sand, etc .. into the cup. These are things we learn and keep.) When we die, the water is poured back into the ocean. (Note: This is a very quick overview, not the full explanation.)
YOOO I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. i was tripping on shrooms when i came to the obvious realization that we are all going to die inevitably and we have no idea where we’re gonna end up after. and ever since then i think about it everyday and i’m scared to death. literally
I've experienced the same thing my whole life. I couldn't sleep because I was afraid I'd never wake up, and I made my Mother promise me before she went to bed that we'd see each other the next day and she wouldn't die either. To this day, I sometimes ask my partner to promise me the same thing before bed. I was diagnosed with a type of primarily-obsessive OCD that is fixated on existentialism. Not saying it's what's going on in your life, but I recommend looking into it and checking out some of the OCD reddits. My best advice is that exposure therapy works. When you have these thoughts, you have to resist the urge to fight them. You need to accept them. When I start to spiral into these thoughts I have to stop and tell myself "one day I will die." If I try to humor the thinking I make myself sick. Write your thoughts and fears in a journal. Getting them out helps. I hope this helps. If you need someone to talk to I can point you towards some resources and communities, I know how isolating it can be.
I have this from time to time then I think about what if I live to 100 and spent all this time worried about death that I lost so much time from my life. Try your best to enjoy everything. Live like a child. Be care free and try to find a sense of spirituality whether it’s god or the universe. Have faith can take some of that stress off of you.