Why are we afraid of dying?

Posted on July 27, 2007
Filed Under General | 1 Comment

Some people never really think about this but most of us have contemplated at one time or another about our ultimate demise. Most people that I have asked their opinion about death, they have said that they fear it. Some more than others.

But why are we afraid of dying?

The answer to this question may differ significantly from person to person but in this article, I will give what I think are the three main reasons why we fear death.

First, most of us are born into a family that belongs to some religion. In North America or Europe this religion is most likely to be Christian, Muslim or Jewish. All three of these major religions teach about the existence of heaven and hell; we all go to one of these two places after death. They try to tell us how to live by their rules in order to guarantee our spot in heaven and avoid the burning pits of hell. The problem is that just about everything you do in this life is considered a sin. Just thinking about certain things gets you a pass straight into hell. Since the day that we are born, we are continuously reminded that we are going to hell; we know that at some point we have broken one or more of the rules and that we have sinned. So, we know that we are going to hell and since we have been conditioned to believe that hell is this terrible place, we live our lives in fear; the fear of dying!

So, religious belief is probably one reason that we fear death. But what about those that are not that religious? It turns out that they also fear of dying but for a completely different reason.

Most people on this planet belong to the low and middle economic classes. This means that the vast majority of the human population has a hard time surviving, especially in capitalist nations where people are often conditioned to always consume and seek satisfaction via material wealth. Most people never make a good enough income to become the consumers they want to be. They live their lives always wanting more; regretting of those things that they can’t buy or the places they can never visit. They fear death because it is the end; if you live your every day struggling to become wealthy in order to enjoy life, the older you get and the closer to death that you come, the more you fear of that moment. You fear of dying because you regret of all those things you wish you had done during your life and you never did.

Lastly, quite the opposite than those in the last group are those who really live their lives to the fullest, enjoying every minute. They also fear of death because they live such a great life that they don’t want it to end. It is like reading a good book or watching a great movie; the closer to the end of the book or movie, the more you feel sorry that it is close to concluding.

So, can anyone stop from fearing death? In my opinion, if every person discovers those things that makes him/her happy, then they have nothing to fear. Death is a normal part of life and it is inevitable. Enjoy your life without going into extremes and realize that you can never do and own everything; this way, you will not fear of the day that you will leave this material world and perhaps transition into something spiritual.

Comments

One Response to “Why are we afraid of dying?”

  1. Leon on January 18th, 2010 3:36 pm

    I really thought this article was great, as I was looking through a Forum and came across a thread asking people how they felt about death. As I scrolled through the comments I felt my gut turn at the way I found each comment to have some truth about the matter.

    Scary but inevitable :-( …

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