Fear of Death
Could I possibly die tomorrow? In a week? Or do I still have many years ahead of me? These are some questions many people often ask themselves. The fear of death affects many individuals, but it certainly didn’t affect a philosopher by the name of Socrates. He argued that death is not to be feared and personally I both agree and disagree with him. Death, it surrounds us, it could be waiting for us at any corner, whether it is a car swerving out of control, a heart attack, or a nasty slip on ice, we tend to try not thinking about it too much, but it’s something unavoidable, something we all eventually come to.
I believe that pretty much everyone dreads it in one way or another. I also believe that it is the unknown that many people really fear, the uncertainty of what comes next if anything. For most people, there’s always the question of what comes after they die. Some believe that there’s a place reserved for them up in the sky and their life will continue, others think it leads to a state of peace and reconciliation. No one really knows, and that is what scares people than most. The uncertainty of it is truly nerve-racking. They can theorize and think about it as much as they want but it is still an unknown event.
Another reason that leads to a fear of death is the actual event of dying. It is because dying can involve a great deal of suffering and pain. Drowning, being burnt alive, and being strangled are the ways of dying that engage in an imaginable agonizing physical pain. I’m sure that anyone who has thought about death has also thought about how their own lives may come to an end. I personally wonder about how I will move on from this world, asking myself questions such as: will it hurt, or will it happen in my sleep? No one wants to suffer and the thought of any kind of pain before dying is very frightening.
Even though death is something extremely mysterious, maybe it’s not the death people fear but dying unprepared. They become anxious because of the fact that there are so many things they wish to accomplish in their lives, so many things they haven’t done. I think this is where the fear of death can be even further coded into their minds. It’s an unsolvable mystery for every one of us. On the other hand, I agree that death is not to be feared. It is useless to spend the whole life worrying about death when people could spend their life living and being happy. Death could distract them from life.
In other words, people live their lives in order to remain happy, in control, and to feel worthy of something. When people focus on death that is when their life actually ends, simply for the reason that they are no longer focusing on living. They stop caring for anything that is in their life and their fear of death overshadows the way they live. In conclusion, even thought death has many frightening aspects of its meaning, people shouldn’t think about it too often. In my opinion, fear of death can be overcome with the knowledge that one lives in order to die. It’s like falling asleep in our bed and waking up somewhere else.
