The inevitability of death for all life is a unifying factor that gives us an opportunity to empathize with each other. All arguments, etc are pointless when we’re all headed the same place in the end.

Because of this we have an opportunity to experience tremendous, overwhelming love with all other life that will die just as we will.

These are things I tell myself when I am in a bad mental place.

“There is no justice in the laws of nature, no term for fairness in the equations of motion. The universe is neither good nor evil, it simply does not care. The stars don’t care, or the sun or the sky. But they don’t have to. We care. There is light in the world and it is us.”

That nothing matters is, in its own way, entirely liberating. Nothing matters, so do what you care about. Try not to make other people’s experience worse, because you’re not an asshole, but otherwise be free.

Alternatively, think of it like this: there was a vast ocean of time that passed before you were born, and you don’t fear it. There will be a vast ocean of time after you are dead; don’t fear that either.

Your continuity will be interrupted. If you’ve ever had a bad fever and lost time, or been blackout drunk, or gotten hit on the head, or whatever, you’ve already experienced interruptions of continuity. And you’re only aware of them after you wake up and have to put it all back together. An interruption that you don’t come back from is also one that you never actually have to deal with.

For me at least,I find that I don’t fear death so much as I do resent it. “Ever since I first understood the weakness of my flesh” and all that. If I could trade my pathetic flesh prison for something eternal, I would. I am my mind, my thoughts, the continuity of my consciousness, not this decaying meat. I resent the idea that I will not get to experience all that I want to, but I don’t really fear it.

What the hell else are you going to do?

When I was younger I thought about trying to study the science of aging to hopefully reverse it. But as soon as I got into the field I realized that a) barring some miracle breakthrough, the technology will not happen in my lifetime; and b) the circumstances of my birth would make it incredibly difficult and unlikely that I could ever aspire to work in such a field. Going to college at all was a stretch, and I eventually had to drop out to start working.

So anyway, that option off the table, there’s no solution. You will die. Your options are to either let anxiety destroy any enjoyment you might get out of life, or just keep living anyway.

The how is easy. It’s the default.

It sounds like you’re struggling to find meaning in things and the good news is that’s 100% normal and something everybody has to figure out.

A lot of people will grab a religion, this is an easy way to have meaning assigned to you by 3rd parties, but I don’t personally recommend it.

In truth, the most beautiful thing about life is that it ends. Every moment you spend, whether it’s holding a loved one or having explosive diarrhea, is truly unique and precious.

I don’t believe in absolutes. There is no absolutely “correct” list of rights and wrongs. No magical force dictating what is meaningful or pointless.

My best advice is, anything that you enjoy doing is worth doing, so long as it doesn’t detract from someone else’s ability to do the same.

Doing nothing is a thing you can do too, but if you find yourself doing that for too long, or not enjoying anything, talk to your doctor. I don’t suffer from clinical depression, but I have family who does, and when I left Christianity for atheism at 18 I found myself experiencing depression in a new way.

I got prescribed a simple anti-depressant. It curbed the lows (and a little bit the highs) and made my days easier so I could work through some shit. A year later I was off them and felt like myself and knew what that meant.

For my dad, depression is an on-going thing. He’s learned what helps him and he has support when he needs it.

Take care of yourself, because even if you dont see that meaning now, sticking around is the only way we get a chance to find it.

You should really look into finding a therapist you can speak with about this. Or Buddhism. Or both.

Hey so this might not be the best place to get to the root of your fears. Have you considered talking to an expert?

I… I’m going to die?

I’ve never understood this question. Why would the fact I’m going to die stop me from moving or setting goals?

It would be a bit weird to say no to a party or catching up with some friends just because it would only be for a few hours. This is the same idea but at a bigger scale

I don’t know your age, but I can assure you that you’ll get used to the inevitability of death as life goes on.
Sure, there’s nothing you can do about it and it’s terrifying now, but you’ll learn to just not care about it.
The universe is everything, everywhere and always, and you’ll just come back as another sentient being, because that’s how the system proves it’s working. It’s all an eternal cycle.
Everything will be fine.

• Admire the ephemerality of beauty itself and the limited lifespan of the universe

• Attempt to avoid suffering

• Yearn for death

• Go to therapy

• Cultivate a rich inner life which you appreciate moment-to-moment

Death is inevitable. Nothing I do will avoid it, I can’t escape it, and it will get me eventually. Thus, there’s no point worrying about it. If I live my life in fear of death, I’ll be just as dead as if I didn’t.

I’m not religious, so as far as I know this is the only existence I’ll ever have. I didn’t exist for billions of years, I exist now, and then I won’t exist for billions of years. In this brief window of consciousness, all I can do is live my life and try to experience it as much as possible. When I die, all I can hope for is that I was a good person who left the world in a better state than how I found it.

I won’t lie and say death doesn’t scare me. As I get closer, I’m sure it’ll scare me even more. I don’t want to die, so I’ll take whatever steps I can to avoid it. But to allow it to preoccupy my thoughts does me no good.

Death is not something to be feared. Suffering makes sense to fear, sure, but death? I was watching a silly TV show last night and they quoted a Chinese proverb. “All of life is a walking dream. All of death is a coming home.”

Death is a great rest awaiting you at the end of life, my friend. It is not a punishment, and maybe even somewhat of a reward. You can relax and feel safe with one of life’s few certainties. We all die; it brings us together.

Have a good one.

It’s tough! The thought of non-existence used to terrify me. For years I clung to religious beliefs, which also terrified me. Eternal torture for nonbelief? Even worse than non-existence! If the religion I was taught was wrong, which was right?

My brain would latch onto these questions and repeat in circles so I couldn’t sleep. I learned to distract myself with made up bedtime stories. I picked up rituals like prayer that I held onto for long after I stopped believing. The ritual was soothing. Slowly, that fear faded and I don’t pray anymore . I don’t fear a hell now, so it’s non-existence, like sleep, which doesn’t feel as frightening as it used to. Since they’s no reason and no purpose to anything, I don’t have to sacrifice myself to fit some role. There’s no great work I can do that will change this.

I’m 40 and sitting here watching a friend play a videogame and petting my cat. I will hang out with my neice this week and play DnD on the weekend and the lack of meaning or purpose - this emptiness - relaxes me.

What I mean is - take it slow. Don’t completely ignore the fear, but if it’s too much, find distractions ro reduce the pain. You wont come to the same conclusions I did, but if you try to take it slow, you might get to your own peace eventually. Maybe you’ll decide that doing good things brings you peace, or building a home you love or something.

Practice slowly breathing, find distractions that genuinely work for you, and think about these things at times when you’re in an okay place - not the dead if night when they’re huge. If that doesn’t work or it’s never small enough to handle, try therapy.

I hope you figure it out.

Why do we eat when we know we’re going to turn it into shit? Food is delicious and we can take pleasure in preparation and sharing it with others.