Hopeless

[Guest _mike]

Man, I’ve been pretty depressed lately. I’ve been experiencing this extreme sense of hopelessness. I mean, now that I know there is no eternity, I see all that I do as being ultimately meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, I do find temporary meaning in the things that I do, but there is no sense of ultimate purpose, and this troubles me greatly for some reason. I don't really have anyone that I know that well who is not a Christian to talk to about any of this, and it sucks. Any advice?

[white_raven23]

Consider this, maybe it will help.

 

The idea of ultimate purpose is scary. It tastes strongly of predestiny. And if you are pre-destined, then there is no free will. No individuality. No real self.

 

As a newly discovered individual, you are truly free to chart your own course. You life has meaning. Not within some schitzophrenic capricious being's 'Master Plan' for all. Not for the benefit of the masses, not even for the semi-blind unconscious Continuation of the Species.

 

You life has meaning for you and you alone now. You have fresh awareness. You will not be led blindly to follow any one path because it's what your family or your environment tells you to. You decide for yourself now, but now it's a conscious choice (which is a little harder...but ultimately more fulfilling).

 

Now that you realize it's possible this life may well be all there is....what do you want to do? What do you want to see? What kind of life experience do you want to be able to look back on with a smile when you come to the end? What ever the answer is...get yourself in gear to make it happen!

 

Life is not a waiting room. Get out and have a good one!

[Jack]

I went through a bit of the same after deconversion. «Oh my, there's nothing after death; what's the point of anything, then?» and such.

 

Everything you do /is/ ultimately meaningless if you look at it as you were before, from a Christian perspective: Your life more or less revolved around the afterlife (and making sure you end up in the right one).

 

But, if we see the general purpose of your life as a closed loop (live for the sake of life itself, live to do what makes you satisfied, etc.) or as a wider distribution, so to speak (live to contribute to society in some form), you aren't wasting your efforts.

 

I didn't get much sleep last night, see, so I think this Amazingly Insightful and Eloquent Post is more aimless rambling than anything.

 

Basic idea: Live for life, not for afterlife; When it's over, it's over, so enjoy it now; and so on.

 

I doubt that helps much; wish I could do better.

[מה טבו]

What did you think your life meant before, when you were a Christian? Was there anything to it besides a preparation for the afterlife?

 

Examine some of the most remarkable lives in history. Who do you think has lived really well? What do/did their lives mean? Why?

 

If you want your life to mean something, decide what you want your life to mean, then make it happen. You make that decision - that's the beauty of free will.

[Ouroboros]

Man, I’ve been pretty depressed lately. I’ve been experiencing this extreme sense of hopelessness. I mean, now that I know there is no eternity, I see all that I do as being ultimately meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, I do find temporary meaning in the things that I do, but there is no sense of ultimate purpose, and this troubles me greatly for some reason. I don't really have anyone that I know that well who is not a Christian to talk to about any of this, and it sucks. Any advice?

The purpose or meaning of life that you had as a Christian was connected to a higher idea or a higher being that you had responsibility towards. Now when your out from this meme you need a new ideal to live for. I have found out that I do have a responsibility to one higher being in my life, which is myself, in the future. I call it my future-self. 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, there will be a person (hopefully) that will look back at my life and be pleased or disappointed, and that person will be me. I will develop into that person, and I have a responsibility towards this person. When you start thinking about what you really want in your life, and how you want to end it, then you start working a bit more goal oriented towards fulfilling this. Because the person that will be upset if you don't, will be the future-you.

 

So forget the hopelessness or the thoughts of meaningless or wihtout purpose, because you do have a meaning and a purpose, and it is to fulfill what you want from life, and how you want to live it for the time you have. This way you realize that you also have a responsibility towards your spouse, kids, family, friends, work etc, because it all in the end will benefit you (if you have made the right choices). If the situation with family or work etc is unbearable and does not fit what you want your future-self to be, then you have to start working on the right course of action to fix it. Maybe it's easy as just talking with the family members to plan, or in the extreme maybe you have to break up with some (which I hope you don't have to do), but the options are now yours and your decision will affect how the outcome will be.

 

When you were Christian, your goal was to go to Heaven and live an eternal life, but now you have to look at how your life will be tomorrow and the day after that. That is now your new goal.

[angel.white]

Man, I’ve been pretty depressed lately. I’ve been experiencing this extreme sense of hopelessness. I mean, now that I know there is no eternity, I see all that I do as being ultimately meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, I do find temporary meaning in the things that I do, but there is no sense of ultimate purpose, and this troubles me greatly for some reason. I don't really have anyone that I know that well who is not a Christian to talk to about any of this, and it sucks. Any advice?

Life is a ball dude, go out and enjoy it. Sitting around sulking is pointless, and when you're done, you will just be thinking "that was dumb" so why waste your time with it? Happiness is a choice, you aren't a product of your situation, you're your own person. You can choose to be happy (no fucking joke, I do it all the time). Anyway, I'd start by letting go of all the shit you can't control. If you can't control it, then being upset and unhappy about it won't do you any good. So just let go of it (xians call this "giving it up to god" as if they own the concept or something). As you teach yourself how to break away from the shit that makes you unhappy that you can't control, look at the things that make you unhappy that you can control. Then go out and do something about it. You can form your own destiny, you can make your own future. Figure out who you want to be and go become it. Do something for yourself, keep a positive mindset, choose happiness.

 

But, if you don't want to (IDK why you wouldn't if you are posting here for help with it) then find where your truth leads. Ultimately, we can't tell you what is right for you, thats something you have to find for yourself. Don't be afraid of what you find, its your truth for you to discover. There is no wrong path, no matter how dark it gets or where it ends, its yours and noone can take it from you.

 

Anyway, I personally never had any issues with this. When I was xian, I was always upset about some sin I'd committed, or some imagined wrong. If I did something stupid it always bothered me. Because there was an afterlife, everything I did had meaning, and every mistake I made was relevant. I'd agonize for days about perceived wrongs, let people walk all over me, and still feel bad, but feel worse if I stood up for myself.

 

When I became an atheist and realized that nothing matters, it was unbelievably freeing. The thought that all the stupid shit I'd done, the dumb things I'd said, everything that had ever made me feel bad was irrelevant and pointless is very uplifting to me. I can honestly say that I am much much happier now that I've removed purpose from my life.

 

The purpose or meaning of life that you had as a Christian was connected to a higher idea or a higher being that you had responsibility towards. Now when your out from this meme you need a new ideal to live for. I have found out that I do have a responsibility to one higher being in my life, which is myself, in the future. I call it my future-self. 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, there will be a person (hopefully) that will look back at my life and be pleased or disappointed, and that person will be me. I will develop into that person, and I have a responsibility towards this person. When you start thinking about what you really want in your life, and how you want to end it, then you start working a bit more goal oriented towards fulfilling this. Because the person that will be upset if you don't, will be the future-you.

That is fucking awesome I have a similar theory, though I never applied it to "the meaning of life" Probably because its not something that I ever struggled with.

[Vigile]

"Ultimate purpose" is part of the xian meme that you need to shed. Once you do, you won't feel depressed over it anymore.

 

In other words, you are feeling depressed over the fact that a made-up concept does not exist.

 

You can rid yourself of this meme by analyzing it I think. And, as they say, time heals. It did for me.

[Tabula Rasa]

I went through a bit of the same after deconversion. «Oh my, there's nothing after death; what's the point of anything, then?» and such.

 

Everything you do /is/ ultimately meaningless if you look at it as you were before, from a Christian perspective: Your life more or less revolved around the afterlife (and making sure you end up in the right one).

 

But, if we see the general purpose of your life as a closed loop (live for the sake of life itself, live to do what makes you satisfied, etc.) or as a wider distribution, so to speak (live to contribute to society in some form), you aren't wasting your efforts.

 

I didn't get much sleep last night, see, so I think this Amazingly Insightful and Eloquent Post is more aimless rambling than anything.

 

Basic idea: Live for life, not for afterlife; When it's over, it's over, so enjoy it now; and so on.

 

I doubt that helps much; wish I could do better.

 

I hope this isn't rehashing the same ground, but even though I'm still holding on to a belief in some kind of Supreme Being and possibly an afterlife,I have flirted with absolute atheism, so what I'm wondering is how do you guys come to terms with the fear of death? That that's it, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200 dollars.

 

The only thing that I can take cold comfort in is the fact that it's inevitable, that there's nothing that I can do about it, and belaboring the obvious, since death is extinction of consciousness, you never know you're dead. You just are. On a slightly related subject, how did you come to terms with the belief that any loved ones who have died are just dead because there's no afterlife? If some of them died unsaved, you would no doubt be relieved , because no Chistian view afterlife means they're not in hell, but the downer is they're not in heaven either, they're just gone, you'll never see them again.

 

Looking forward to your replies,

Tabula

[angel.white]

I hope this isn't rehashing the same ground, but even though I'm still holding on to a belief in some kind of Supreme Being and possibly an afterlife,I have flirted with absolute atheism, so what I'm wondering is how do you guys come to terms with the fear of death? That that's it, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200 dollars.

Hmm, death is nothingness, what is there to fear about it? I think you'll have to explain to me what specific fears you have.

 

On a slightly related subject, how did you come to terms with the belief that any loved ones who have died are just dead because there's no afterlife? If some of them died unsaved, you would no doubt be relieved , because no Chistian view afterlife means they're not in hell, but the downer is they're not in heaven either, they're just gone, you'll never see them again.

I believe everyone who dies simply ceases to exist, regardless of what their beliefs on this earth were, regardless of what they did with their time here, regardless of whether they were xian or atheist or any other religion. There is no heaven there is no hell, there is simply nonexistence. Consider a program on a computer, it is executed, and then later the computer is turned off. The program simply goes away, noone cries over closed programs. We think this way about everything except humans, because we want to feel special. But humans are no more special than a single celled organism. There is no single cell heaven, there is no single cell hell, and the same is true for everything that exists.

 

When loved ones die and cease to exist, that is what will happen to everyone, there is no need to be dismayed by it. Nonexistence is not good or bad. Like the storm and the flame, like the rocks and the sky, it simply is (modified cassandra nova quote). So it should not be looked at as a bad thing, that is a human concept that doesn't exist outside human minds.

[Tabula Rasa]

I hope this isn't rehashing the same ground, but even though I'm still holding on to a belief in some kind of Supreme Being and possibly an afterlife,I have flirted with absolute atheism, so what I'm wondering is how do you guys come to terms with the fear of death? That that's it, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200 dollars.

Hmm, death is nothingness, what is there to fear about it? I think you'll have to explain to me what specific fears you have.

 

 

Well, this'll sound weird, but there are some who think that being dead is painful. Death is supposedly the extinction of consciousness, an eternal dreamless sleep. I think that somehow, I got this strange idea in my head that death is a huge void where you are all alone, and you're aware, but you're aware of nothing but void forever.(Sorry, I know it sounds nuts.)

 

On the other hand, I think the reason, the finality of death scares me, is because I'm forty one years old, and I haven't really done much with my life. I've never been in a relationship, the only times I've had sex was when I paid for it.,(due to low self esteem, I thought everyone else better than me) I have a few close friends, but not much of a social life, I've only been to a few places etc, etc. So I guess I'm bummed out that I haven't gotten more out of life. This'll sound cheap and petty, but thinking about how much fun I could have been having all these years, going out dancing, making love to pretty women, enjoying some intoxicating beverages, going to the beach etc.(I've done some of these things, but not enough as I've wanted to.) Besides the shallow stuff, learning about different cultures, different ideas, etc etc. It's not just the guilt trip laid on me by the Church, it's my own lack of self esteem I have to blame.

[Vigile]

I hope this isn't rehashing the same ground, but even though I'm still holding on to a belief in some kind of Supreme Being and possibly an afterlife,I have flirted with absolute atheism, so what I'm wondering is how do you guys come to terms with the fear of death? That that's it, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200 dollars. .

 

Just try and think of what it was like before you were born. That's what death is.

 

The only thing that I can take cold comfort in is the fact that it's inevitable, that there's nothing that I can do about it, and belaboring the obvious, since death is extinction of consciousness, you never know you're dead. You just are. On a slightly related subject, how did you come to terms with the belief that any loved ones who have died are just dead because there's no afterlife? If some of them died unsaved, you would no doubt be relieved , because no Chistian view afterlife means they're not in hell, but the downer is they're not in heaven either, they're just gone, you'll never see them again.

 

It sucks that you will never see them again. As you said, you just suck it up and accept it. You be human. You greive. The pain eventually fades and life goes on.

 

Personally, I like the way that Epicurus put it:

 

God should not concern us.

Death is not to be feared.

What is good is easy to obtain.

What is bad is easily avoided.

 

That “death is not to be feared” asserts Epicurus, can be demonstrated by rational argument. The simple summation of Epicurus’ thesis is his well-known statement that “death is nothing to us” because at the moment we die—the instant we cease to exist—we experience nothing. As Warren says, “for something to be good or bad for some person, that something . . . must be perceived by that person.” Death is not perceived by the individual because the cessation of life marks the cessation of all sensation, including that of physical and mental pain. Death is merely the termination of a stream of consciousness. It is unreasonable, says Epicurus, for us to be fearful of a future event that will not harm us when it occurs. “What is no trouble when it arrives is an idle worry in anticipation,” Epicurus explains in his Letter to Menoeceus. Warren notes that Epicurus limits his thesis to the attitude he believes it is reasonable for the individual to hold regarding his or her own death, not to pain before death, or to the death of others.

http://www.zainea.com/Beautifulevidence.htm

 

In other words YOU will never die. When you are dead you cannot contemplate your death so death is nothing to you. You won't exist anymore. Death can only hold sway over you now if you let it. YOU, as far as YOU are concerned, will always live. When you don't you are not you anymore.

 

Keep thinking about it, it will sink in.

 

On the other hand, I think the reason, the finality of death scares me, is because I'm forty one years old, and I haven't really done much with my life.

 

I've always felt it best not to regret the past. The future is the only thing I can change, so focusing on past perceived failures is probably only going to cause future failures. It's not too late to change your life and do something.

 

I'm 41 to, and I've done quite a bit with my life. Even so, I feel as if I can empathize with you here. There is so much I still want to do, that I feel and urgency for it and a bit of regret that time is not as long as it used to be.

 

Perhaps you can read some self help books to help build your confidence. Beyond that, take some action. Why don't you just give up everything, and move overseas and start teaching English? You're love life is likely to improve dramatically in a foreign country and you will be living an adventure. What's stopping you from doing something dramatic like this? As for myself, every excuse why something won't work has a counter to it why it will. I always focus on how to acheive something rather than the reasons why it can't work. It's helped me a lot in my life.

 

Check this out: http://www.ex-christian.net/index.php?show...3&hl=prague

[R. S. Martin]

Tab, you're to be commended for your honesty. Forty-one is not the end of life. I'm ten years older. I started living about the age you are now. But the stuff I learned from my first forty years of life was not exactly wasted. Oh sure, I resent the raw deals I've been dealt and the "wasted" years, but then I realize how much I learned from it. I went back to school at 41 and drew heavily from my life experience up till that time to understand concepts taught in my courses.

 

While twenty-year-olds can memorize all kinds of theories and concepts from books, I think there is nothing like living the real thing when it comes to learning. The more years you've got behind you--even if not lived the way you wish you could have--the more life experience and real knowledge you have about that particular life experience. You are an expert on the kind of life that was foisted onto you and you can share that with the world. At least, that's what I find myself doing.

 

I never realized just how deep some of those lessons went until I found myself repeating and repeating the same story over and over every time certain issues came up. I think we all help make the world a better place when we share what we learned from our life experiences. I don't know if any of that helps. But I do know that with today's life expectancy, 41 is right about the middle of life. You think 41 years is a long time to have "wasted"? Welcome to the second set of 41 years. It lies before you to do with as you see fit.

 

About death. I just don't think it's painful, or a void. Nor do I think there is a Supreme Being. I take it you're new here. We have a section for people who believe in nonChristian spirituality or theism. Maybe someone there can provide more help. The way I see it, death is the end of human existence. My philosophy for life is to be true to who I am. I find that makes me a better person so that I "bring forth the fruits of the spirit" the New Testament demands. Thus, I think if there is a God I will be admitted to heaven. And if there isn't I will have enjoyed the one life I had.

 

Not in selfish ravishing but in the pure pleasures of a life well lived. A conscience at peace. A joyful heart. These are all things the Christians say we can't have unless we believe as they do. They're just wrong. That's all there is to it. Lots and lots of us experience more peace of mind and joy of life if we are freed from the responsibility to weigh eternal consequences when making day to day decisions. As stated, maybe you can get more help from people who share beliefs with you. I can only speak of my personal experience and my personal experience has been more peace with each step I took away from God belief.

[Ouroboros]

That is fucking awesome I have a similar theory, though I never applied it to "the meaning of life" Probably because its not something that I ever struggled with.

What I like about my little homemade life philosophy is that it can be applie on morality too, and it also is the first philosophy that I feel can compare and be used as argument against presuppositional apologetics. It's a rational moral "religion" without gods or supernatural explanations. It presupposes your survival and from that you have the responsibility towards that future being, who will have more knowledge and wisdom and hence a more supreme being than you are today, i.e. the "god" who will judge you is yourself.

[Piprus]

Man, I’ve been pretty depressed lately. I’ve been experiencing this extreme sense of hopelessness. I mean, now that I know there is no eternity, I see all that I do as being ultimately meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, I do find temporary meaning in the things that I do, but there is no sense of ultimate purpose, and this troubles me greatly for some reason. I don't really have anyone that I know that well who is not a Christian to talk to about any of this, and it sucks. Any advice?

Some great thoughts have come before mine, still I'll chime in for whatever you think it's worth.

 

First, you don't know that there is no eternity. Within our tiny sphere of existence, we can only process what we can perceive. We can see no evidence that our lives are somehow eternal, so we must assume they're not. But we cannot know it for certain, so it becomes not a cause for hopelessness, just irrelevant.

 

You are free to define your own purposes. I'm an atheist, but I have lots of purposes, but focused on the matters of everyday life from the mundane to the...well, mostly mundane. You set your goals, which should be reasonable and attainable, and work to achieve them. When you do, you take satisfaction. When you don't, you accept it and reformulate. So then what do you mean by an "ultimate" purpose? In terms of a life lived well without the ball-and-chain of religious delusion holding you back, that could be as broad as it is long. Life is a journey, and it's purpose is found within the journey. Not the endpoint.

[♦ nivek ♦]

mike...

 

 

Testicles you own are now yours to use as you damn well wish. Go where you want, do as you would, learn that the Mjikal Sky Spookie and Botz have not hold on your inclinations.

 

Figure you are not inclined to go out and rape, murder, thieve or be a dirtbag. With the big fuckers of others lives not on the agenda, damn near anything you'd like to try and do is open for exploration.

 

What I tell folks in meat.space 'round these parts is to go do something you might not. Take a class at local community college, learn some form of dance or art, go fishing, do something out of your *normal* and learn to enjoy life.

 

Life is its own decent reward. Some days you get served a shit sammich. Other days the Clue Truck drops off good toys and fun things. It is never a steady state of the same old thing.

 

Learning to enjoy life is an adventure all in its own. Do so at the risk of being able to look back at the sectarian hell filled, BULLshit messes you left, and laff your ass off at it....

 

ExC is filled with folks who if not in the pool swimming are damned good lifeguards... Jump in, water's forkin' fine.

 

kFL

[Japedo]

Life is not a waiting room. Get out and have a good one!

 

I LOVE this quote, it is the synopsis of life, Do you mind if I use it? I'll give ya credit, it's just to good not to share!!

[GraphicsGuy]

Amazingly, I felt vastly relieved to discover that eternity was a myth and life really WAS without purpose except for the purpose you give it yourself.

 

While a Xian I was always trying to be more than I was and do far more than I could because I wanted so badly to know what god's will was and to know the purpose of my life. I felt like I had all these talents and abilities and I wasn't using them for god and it completely stressed me out. I always felt like the "wicked servant" who went out and buried his master's money and was really worried that god would consider me the same for not using my abilities for his kingdom.

 

Now, I'm relaxed, I'm free, I take it day by day and don't worry about my purpose in life. My purpose is what I want it to be.

[Bongo]

Here's a thought, maybe it will help:

 

You are a part of the universe.

 

You were one of the lucky ones to see the wonderous things you did. You existed, and nothing can take that away. You saw glorious sunsets, felt breezes on your face, lived, loved (...or not). You lived in a time when we explored beyond this planet and saw sights that men had only dreamed of for all the centuries before. You lived in a time of high knowledge and were priviledged to know the entire history of the human race (excepting possible unknown alternate histories). When that history of man is written, you were there.

 

You made it to this plane, and your presence in the universe is a permanent fact. So many potential lives were never priviledged to exist. But you did.

 

When the world has been burnt up by the expanding sun, your atoms, still somewhere, will feel that toasting. When the universe has expanded (or died in whatever way it may) parts of you will always remain.

 

Actually being here, an actual player, and not someone you read about in a book, but actually truly here taking up space and allowed to contemplate yourself, in this universe, is a wonderous esctasy.

 

 

 

for what it's worth

[Guest _mike]

Thanks for the support everyone. Your comments have been quite insightful and inspirational. I guess it’s just going to take some time before I can completely rid myself of all the bullshit Christian undertones entrenched in my thought processes and really settle comfortably in my atheism. This website is helping speed up the process. I really loved a lot of what you guys have written. Thanks again.

[Guest brookacton]

Any advice?

The purpose or meaning of life that you had as a Christian was connected to a higher idea or a higher being that you had responsibility towards. Now when your out from this meme you need a new ideal to live for. I have found out that I do have a responsibility to one higher being in my life, which is myself, in the future. I call it my future-self. 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, there will be a person (hopefully) that will look back at my life and be pleased or disappointed, and that person will be me. I will develop into that person, and I have a responsibility towards this person. When you start thinking about what you really want in your life, and how you want to end it, then you start working a bit more goal oriented towards fulfilling this. Because the person that will be upset if you don't, will be the future-you.

 

So forget the hopelessness or the thoughts of meaningless or wihtout purpose, because you do have a meaning and a purpose, and it is to fulfill what you want from life, and how you want to live it for the time you have. This way you realize that you also have a responsibility towards your spouse, kids, family, friends, work etc, because it all in the end will benefit you (if you have made the right choices). If the situation with family or work etc is unbearable and does not fit what you want your future-self to be, then you have to start working on the right course of action to fix it. Maybe it's easy as just talking with the family members to plan, or in the extreme maybe you have to break up with some (which I hope you don't have to do), but the options are now yours and your decision will affect how the outcome will be.

 

When you were Christian, your goal was to go to Heaven and live an eternal life, but now you have to look at how your life will be tomorrow and the day after that. That is now your new goal.

 

 

I love this idea. Thank you.

[Luke Wolf]

Go out and party. Have a good time and enjoy life.

Also, look for a way to make an impact. Be it for good or ill, being remembered is the only way to true immortality. I'm sure a couple hundred years down the road, even Bush will be put in history next to people such as Hitler, Stalin, Castro, and other such people. But, he will inevitable go down as being a man who had a significant impact on multiple nations.

[Kelli]

I guess it’s just going to take some time before I can completely rid myself of all the bullshit Christian undertones entrenched in my thought processes and really settle comfortably in my atheism. This website is helping speed up the process.

 

Mike,

 

You can't undo in a day what it took years to build up. For me, leaving christianity was a long road. I say nearly four years, but in reality I started to question nearly 10 years ago and I would say that the process of complete deconversion has been ongoing. Unlike many here though, I do still hold onto the belief that there may be an afterlife of sorts and even possibly what some refer to as "reincarnation," so I guess maybe the "what now" question didn't hit me as hard as it does some who go to complete atheism.

 

Bottom line is what so many others have said. Live your life. Enjoy it. I firmly believe that as long as we are not hurting others we are free to enjoy this life as we see fit. Personally, I have come once again to enjoy the little things in life as I did when I was a child, something that I had lost over the past 16 years of working, raising kids, and living a fairly hectic life. I stop and smell the roses, enjoy nature, ride my mountain bike as much as possible because it's what I love to do, read, write, listen to my kids playing, and spend more time listening to them than I did before. I decided I wasn't going to let anyone, real or imaginary, dictate what I did with my own life. What you want to do with yours is probably much different than what I do with mine and the next person's, but whatever it is that you want to do, go out and do it.

 

Last month I spent $500 on a mountain bike that I didn't really have the money to buy, but it was something I had wanted to do for years. So I allocated the money and just did it. I have well over 200 miles on that bike already. I am healthier, happier, and have no regrets over spending that money. Step into life and you'll forget all about worrying about what might or might not come after it.

 

~ Maura