Agreed. I'm often just a few steps shy of wanting said release, but too stubborn to seek it out without at least trying to be happy. But the moment I believe I can't be happy anymore, then that release sounds very good...
I've been there. It's not a great vacation spot, to put it mildly. When the options appear to be nothing and misery, it's not even much of a contest.
@Stebehil-
** spoiler omitted **
Yeah, it can be an experience that can be very bad. Otherwise, if you hadn´t taken the chance, you might make self-reproaches all the time.
Stefan
Death is the one certainty in our lives. In a way, it is a central part of the very definition of life. At some point, we will die, and that is what makes living possible.
I am an atheist, and yet I do not fear death. Being dead forever would only be terrible if you were aware, but that too is a function of being alive. Death holds no terror, no pain and no boredom.
Rather, death forces us to live as well as we can. We get this one life, and everyone else also has only one life. Thus, there is no excuse for treating your fellow human beings badly. In particular, there is no excuse for saying things like "Kill them all, God knows his own".
Death is the one certainty in our lives. In a way, it is a central part of the very definition of life. At some point, we will die, and that is what makes living possible.
I am an atheist, and yet I do not fear death. Being dead forever would only be terrible if you were aware, but that too is a function of being alive. Death holds no terror, no pain and no boredom.
Rather, death forces us to live as well as we can. We get this one life, and everyone else also has only one life. Thus, there is no excuse for treating your fellow human beings badly. In particular, there is no excuse for saying things like "Kill them all, God knows his own".
A Kurzweilian might say "Death has been the one certainty in human lives, but technology is going to change that in the not too distant future."
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Well, here’s my cool story, bro. It usually doesn’t satisfy skeptics or believers.
Back in ‘99 I found a swollen lymph node under my arm that did not go away even after a few weeks. Every medical book I looked in said a painless, swollen node with no nearby infections might be Hodgkin’s lymphoma. So I bought cheap student health insurance and went to see a campus physician. He said it was probably something benign but that I should see his surgeon friend anyway. The first thing the surgeon said was ‘lymphoma’ and that we should do a biopsy.
I was studying philosophy and religion at the time and was living in an apartment overlooking a waterfall where a spring-fed lake became a river. I was crazy in love with a woman with whom I had had an on-again off-again relationship for a couple of years. Crazy love. Maybe because we were both crazy. She was the first person I told what was going on.
It’s easy to think about death when it’s not looking you in the face. I forget the name of the philosopher who said that death is not here when we are and we are not here when death is, so there is no reason to fear it. That’s not true. Death can be a presence. Suddenly, every plan you had, and every regret, stand out in clear relief. There is panic at the thought of losing everything forever.
Other times there are moments of peace.
The day I told her what was happening with me we had gone for a late lunch and went to see the movie American Beauty. During the drive home I told her that I realized I had never really been scared before in my life until now. We arrived home, got out of the car, and she put her arms around me and told me that I was going to be alright.
This is the part where I have to use words to describe the indescribable, the ineffable. Holding her in my arms I was struck by what I can only call a memory. I remembered that I had loved her before I was born. For a moment I saw clearly that the very ground of existence is love and that, to steal a phrase from Nietzsche, it is a monster of energy without beginning or end. This energy expands and unfolds in joy and triumph and falls back again in tragedy and despair, but all of it, all of it is the love of God. And it is a miracle, all of it. Every moment of existence is your cup running over. You don’t have to explore the world to find it. It’s always right in front of you.
We will all die, our beliefs and personalities shut down. But the part of you that is love will live forever. It is the only thing that’s real.
p.s. I got better.
To me, death is the end - which, - again, to me - means that this life is all I get, and thus something to make sure I get what I want from. And no, I don't think that will lead to hedonism, because if you only get one life, you'd better make darn sure to think hard on what it is you want with it, not impulsively jump into things because they seem attractive at the time (though sometimes, that can be a good thing, otherwise there's a risk you'll end up regretting missed chances due to thinking things over for too long). I'd say my thoughts are pretty well summed up by Phil Ochs:
There's no place in this world where I'll belong when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm hereAnd I won't feel the flowing of the time when I'm gone
All the pleasures of love will not be mine when I'm gone
My pen won't pour out a lyric line when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm hereAnd I won't breathe the bracing air when I'm gone
And I can't even worry 'bout my cares when I'm gone
Won't be asked to do my share when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm hereAnd I won't be running from the rain when I'm gone
And I can't even suffer from the pain when I'm gone
Can't say who's to praise and who's to blame when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm hereWon't see the golden of the sun when I'm gone
And the evenings and the mornings will be one when I'm gone
Can't be singing louder than the guns when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm hereAll my days won't be dances of delight when I'm gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight when I'm gone
Can't add my name into the fight while I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm hereAnd I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone
Can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it...
Interesting
You'd think that I'd be in the camp to focus on death -- but I'd rather focus on helping the living.Amen. This might be your finest post yet, Moff.
One might argue that is the point in eternity.
I had the flu last week and at one point, I honestly felt I might die.
I remember thinking about death when I was 12 or 13. It scared me to no end. It is human to fear the unknown after all. Then I came at it from a different perspective. What were things like before I was born? Oblivion. The same oblivion awaits me when I die. No pain. No suffering. Just oblivion.
So what about all the things I will never get to do while I am alive? Why do I need to do anything? There is no way I could ever do them all. Who would want to? If you lived forever and did everything on your list…would you not become incredibly bored? No, living forever is not the answer either.
A short life. Some good times. Some bad times. That is what I want. Enough to taste love. Not so much that I become bored with the experience.
So should one live life to the fullest so you can die without regret? Bah! To er is human. We will all have regrets. To try and live without them is folly.
I will live and make mistakes. I will love and be loved. If I am forgotten after I die, so be it. I shall not waste my life worrying about what I should do with my life. I can not control the universe and its plans for me. I shall be content with the universe's plan for me and find joy where I can and know it was enough.
I try to tell my daughter every day how much I love her. The only thing I would regret about dying is that she would not know how much I love her.