Neverlandrut Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 One of the hardest parts about my deconversion was the realization that there likely is no afterlife, that after I die, I am just that...dead. I struggled so much with this fear of the end really being the end. I was depressed for weeks. Weirdly, this depression did not last as long as I thought it would. It wasn't very long before the joys and beauties of my life began to be clearly seen again. I realized that, yes, one day I will die. But I'm not dead today. I have a life to live and enjoy. It's approaching several months, closer to a year, since the beginning of my deconversion. Now, the idea of an afterlife seems foreign to me. Now that I am focused on this one life that I am sure to have, life is so much more beautiful to me. It is beautiful because it is temporary. Every natural commodity that is valuable is valuable precisely because there is not much of it. Life is the same way. We have an infinitesimal blip of time in which to exist and enjoy what we call life. And in this immeasurably short amount of time, our lives are packed with so much experience, so much richness, so much meaning. It makes me want to make every moment count. I don't waist my time worrying about death any more. I don't welcome it, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I certainly don't want to get there knowing that I wasted my time worrying about something I could never avoid. There is no reason to fear death. Sure, we all fear getting dead. But being dead should not bother us. As Mark Twain said (not an exact quote, I'm sure), "I was dead for a billion years before I was born, and I did not suffer the slightest inconvenience from it." And to be extremely cliche, every one dies, but not everyone really lives. The Christian says to the Atheist, "If this life is all there is, then nothing matters because there is no ultimate consequence!" The Atheist says to the Christian, "No! If this life is all there is, then it is the only thing that matters." 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deidre Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 That's a beautiful post, Neverlandrut. I feel the same. Looking back, I only feared death because of the constant feeling of unworthiness that Christianity presses upon a person. Focusing on an afterlife can cheapen this one, and this may very well be the only life we have to live. May you enjoy it to its fullest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Bravo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 That is a great post, Neverlandrut. I should read this when I am feeling a bit down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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