how do you escape the feeling of your own mortality?

Question

this thought has been eating away at me for the past few days. i awoke the other night with such a depressing feeling, that i am not the same person 5 years ago, let alone five minutes ago. the fact that we are ever growing older, & never to be young again. life seems to go by too fast at times, & i don't like that. granted i'm still quite young, i feel old because i see how "the adult life" is creaping up on me with such haste, it frightens me at times. so i wonder, how do i bewid this impression?

Answer 1

I try not to think abot it. To creepy . As to your other part of the queston, I offer you this. Five years ago you were still you, but with a different view on life mainly because you had only been around xx number of years. But if you think carefully you may discover an underlying consistency in thought still remains from your earliest memories to the present. Try to remember one of your very earliest memories of a thought or your feelings, but think of a minor event. Something like not getting that cookie or finding a dollar or an interesting bug, or discovering something. If you can remember exactly how you felt finding that dollar, and compare that feeling/thought with how you would feel finding that $20 bill (inflation!) today, you may sense a vague base-line similarity to your early thoughts and your current thoughts. I'm not sure if I explained this very well, I’m trying to describe something hard for me to put into words! But I think this is the part of us that stays with us forever. For example: I was maybe only four when I fished a baby guppy out of the tank held it in my hand and wondered why it slowly stopped moving. My mom or dad explained fish need to be in water or they die. I remember feeling astonishment at learning this fish fact, but I also remember feeling something like shame and thinking to myself “How was I supposed to know fish NEED to be in water!” To compare this with a similar event is hard. I’ll sometimes do something “wrong”, which I’m told basically “Why did you do that? You should have known better!” I end up getting that same feeling I had holding the fish.

Answer 2

This is a very common feeling that comes to everyone once or the other. It is bound to make you feel as if you are lonely, with no help from someone and that the life should only come to an end.But wait, before you do anything, take a look at yourself to those unfortunate people who are in a worse condition than you are. There are many people on this earth dying everyday as they either cannot afford to pay for food or are suffering from disease that can't be cured. Also always be optimistic about life. Life is not always the same. It is a giant wheel that goes up and come down. Once its down, it only has to go up. Be cheerful, meet friends, talk to someone in whom you trust and can confide. See a professional who can give you advice. Just try to do things what interests you and keeps you occupied. I am sure that things will change and never worry about what you are right now and what you were 5 years ago, as "change" is the only constant thing in life and what comes has to go and what has gone will bring something new to cheer and ponder upon. I hope this will cheer you up to some extent.

Answer 3

I don't know how old you are but I have had trouble myself dealing with growing older. It helps to know that everyone is in the same boat and that although time goes by quick, aging is a process that you slowly get use too. It does suck though my friend. The freedom and choices and the optimism that you have when you are young are slowly taken from you. You can never look through innocent eyes anymore as you realize that life is not always kind. It is horrible when your face starts aging and younger people start treating you like you are old. Physically your body starts to deteriate as aches and pains start settling in and you become tired more easy. Aging is horrible. Perhaps with age comes wisedom but with this comes the awareness of the suffering in the world and your own personal struggles. This is why is it good to have a family. If you have a happy marriage and family, it makes life worth living to have love and to have such meaning in your life as the years pass you by.

Answer 4

Try working in a mortuary...
That used to bother me a lot, being confronted with death on a daily basis. Your realization is scary at first, but perhaps you can learn to use that to your advantage...by knowing that there will be no finer day than today and if you miss it, tomorrow will be different. Focus on moving forward and living every day in such an extraordinary way that when you die, you will have had the privelage of living yr life to its best. That's really all you can do because there is no escape or remedy from time, and death is the only thing that everyone on earth has in common with one another.

Answer 5

It's this same feeling in all people throughout time that has led to the want to know there's more to life than this life. It's this same question and emotion that's led to religious beleif in the afterlife etc. You're far from alone.

Now you can begin to understand how "youth is wasted on the young"

The next quip you'll embrace is how you're only as old as you feel. It's true, too. If you live every day with vigor and enthusiasm, you'll not feel the effect of aging. Doing the things you love to do with people you love makes life worth living.

I also think people's ability to pass on their wisdom and experience to younger people (most often their own children, but this is far from being a necessity) helps us deal with mortality. It gives life some purpose, since you're sharing the wisdom of your experience with others who can use it to make their lives better, and pass it on to another generation.

This same mortality drives some to want to accomplish something that will last beyond their time here. Whether that's art, music, scientific discovery, or eating more hot dogs than anyone else- like Kobayashi.

Now that you've realized life is indeed short, embrace the time you've got and do something significant. Make a difference somewhere, somehow. Your time here may seem short, but your accomplishments can live on forever. Get to accomplishing!

Answer 6

You don't, really. Many people have struggled with this concept. You sound very intelligent, and I am sure you realize this is just a frame of mind. I don't know how old you are, but a crisis happens every 10 years or so. It's not just mid-life. You are just becoming more aware of what's going on around you, that's all.In another 10 years you will be wondering about todays youth and will get depressed over that, too. Keep lots of friends around you, and stop asking so many questions about life. You will only hurt your own thought-process. Things are the way they are. You WILL get older. As time goes by maybe you will realize that's it's not so bad after all. I guess that's why they say we should age gracefully, because if everybody thought about this all day every day, we would be one depressed society!! Keep smilin', honey, and I promise, it does get better.

Answer 7

Staying the same? Why would you want to? Use each new day to seek Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Don't look to far ahead, and enjoy today.

Each day is a gift, people die at all ages young and old, hard times and pain are ageless too. On the other hand there are wonderful things on this journey of life and it takes years and tens of years to find them all. Face the future and don't look back except to laugh at yourself. Gather treasures for your heart along the way. If you have an eternal perspective, no matter how old you get on this earth, your just a babe. There is peace for your soul and that peace is found in Christ Jesus alone. There is your answer my friend.

Answer 8

I used to find myself more mature than people around me. When you have an encountered with death, you grow up pretty fast. Saw my dad, uncle and mother-in-law go before my eyes (separate occasion - all due to illnesses).

I think you are in a good position to do something about your concerns. Many people I know think that they will live forever. Knowing you have limited time can help you be more focus, achieve more and strive to be the best that you can be and truly enjoy life and love life. You seem to be bogged down by limited time instead. A lot depends on how you look at life. You can see a half glass of milk and moan that it is only half or be thankful for that half knowing that so many out there don't.

So instead of trying to stop time, embrace it. Look forward to new challenges, new growth. Each new stage in life brings new hope, new experiences, new happiness and joy. Count your blessings each day. you will see things in a new light.

Answer 9

Follow the two rules expounded in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure."
1. Be excellent to each other. In other words, be thoughtful and kind.
2. Party On!! As long as it harms none, have fun! It is really hard to think about the big issues if you are preoccupied with a fine girlfriend.

Life happens. We grow old, then we die. Other than considering it long enough to work out your healthcare and retirement issues, there is no practical reason to dwell on the unpleasant facts of the human condition. Live. Be well. Love. Laugh. Do these things well and you won't find yourself dwelling on old age and death often.

Answer 10

Decide to believe that there is part of you that is immortal. You can find that belief in a variety of ways- art, music, educating others, reproduction... some kind of contribution that you can leave to humanity that will continue after you're gone. It doesn't have to be found in the "soul' theory of a religion necessarily, although to be honest, billions are happier by this rationale, they claim. Anyway, developing this legacy through concentration on life and living should help dispell the gloom of it's eventual terminality. And don't beat yourself up if you need a quick fix of denial- found through an occasional night of "partying." Some people spend years in denial....