Death, it surrounds us, it could be waiting for us at our next destination, whether it is a car wreck, a stroke, or a nasty fall, we tend to try not to think of it or push it to the back of our minds, but it is something that is unavoidable, something that our lives all eventually come too.
I know that pretty much everyone comes across the thought of death every now and then, but what many people mainly fear is that of the unknown, the uncertainty of what happens or is to come next. A Lot of people question, “What comes after death?”, but no one knows for sure. Being a Christian myself, I believe that their is a place for me reserved up in the sky and that my life will continue on up there. Others think apart from that in many ways.
The uncertainty of it is what racks peoples nerves, they can think and dream of what is to come but they never truly know for sure because it is an unknown event.
Sheldon Solomon describes “thanatophobia” in the podcast, “We’re All Going To Die! How Fear of Death Drives our Behavior”, as the fear of dying, act of dying, and what happens after death. His drive to become a psychologist began when he was as young as four years old, when his grandmother passed away. This was the first time he has ever been faced with the word “death”. As he grew up his own mortality became his biggest fear and he was afraid of things that could cause him or his loved ones harm, so he shied away from those events. Which caused him great depression and lack of love and happiness within his family and personal relationships. This fear was keeping him away from everything he loved, once he has children he realized what he had been missing out on. Once he came out of this depression he researched and confided in other physicians that were educated on the topic.
One of his close friends Ernest Becker wrote a best selling book, The Denial of Death, it has many brilliant answers to the “why” of human existence. Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie – man’s refusal to acknowledge his fear of mortality. Becker and Solomon have worked together and come to many conclusions of the human population and one is simply that we are the only ones that can control our fears.
As we all know no one can escape the harsh word – death. But, people need to realize that once you focus on death that is when your life will actually come to an end. Once you let it take over your thoughts and actions is when your fear comes to life. People need to live their lives in order to remain happy, in control, and to feel worthy of the life they are living. The thoughts of death can shape our actions in good ways, such as keeping us safe from activities that might harm us, but even though death has many frightening aspects behind what can happen, we can not let it control our lives.
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