So, is this present life it?? (page 2)

Monsieur

All the advise sounds good, although I don't necessarily see things in life in a negative way. I wasn't 'complaining' so to speak, of my 'present' and possibly only life. In my personal case, I feel very lucky to have it the way I do, (I'm not being hunted down, abused, or made to suffer the torture of my kids, etc..)

The finality of it all though is a nice 'rug pulled from under you' type experience. Having said that, I'm not quite convinced this is the case, not yet anyway.

IF the case WAS that this life is IT though, should we really strive to make a 'difference' outside of our own immediate family perhaps? what are we trying to accomplish when we set out to make a 'statue' or a 'memorial' of ourselves? Otherwise, our influence is only really as far reaching as our children, spouse, parents (if we even got along with them).

Im starting to better understand Solomon's words in regards to it all being a vanity.

Interestingly, if our influence is ridiciously limited, then I feel as though this takes a lot of stress off my shoulders. I realize that many ventures, if not almost all of them, are not that important and don't merit so much energy and time.

Didn't George W Bush say when asked what would his legacy be, he answered "We won't know, we'll be dead".

Giordano

I am 69. Last night I awoke at 2:30 in the morning and thought about your questions. Thanks.....just what I needed to think about at 2:30 in the morning....lol.

I understood the truth about the truth when I was 23, pioneering 'where the need was great', holding multiple congregational positions, married a couple of years, wanting to start a family, knowing being a witness was wrong.....for me, for us....... something I no longer needed, wanted or believed in.

My wife and I left in the 1960's.....the loss of my deferment, keeping me out of the Vietnam war, and the announcement that 1975 was going to be a terminal year, did not bode well for any success in our future life......... but it did not stop us from leaving. It was time to seek our own way. We knew that all of the people we grew up with would no longer accept us as friends or family. That our years of service would now count as nothing. We left ..........because it was the right thing to do.

Between us we had one high school diploma. We were experienced JW's but had no job skills, no worldly friends or contacts.......just a past. So we went in search for a future.....we set out to live a life worth living, and it all mattered .....to us. I still enter each day renewed and ready for the challenges that I may face.

I also learned that what I do with my time and my actions count......to me if no one else

The reality is that we all die. That there is a good chance that nothing lies beyond. There was nothing before I was conceived why should I think there is more after I die? I am more then willing to be pleasantly surprised.......... but that is out of my hands.

I learned that you can not stand in the same river twice because like time........ it is always moving and changing. That is the truth about living. It is the challenge we face daily.

tec

This present life is not all that there is, though it can be. But it does not have to be. There is hope for Life after, and that life is in Christ (as Unstoppable also stated).

However, what we do in this life does matter... and this life should be lived to its full... regardless of what may or may not come after.

To your questions though, if this were all there is:

Is this it? is our current and present life, (the daily one we live, not necessarily our aspirations) all there really is?

Yes, but this is not always such a bad thing. One can find joy in your own life, and joy in helping others in their lives.

What do we have to look foward to if we are aware that we are not infinite. What happens to our relationships we've built and developed with close friends and more so our family?? If our time alive is this brief (and becoming more so the more i ponder on it) do our efforts to become 'something' while we are alive become 'silly' ideas only glorified in our own minds?

If this is it... then don't think about life and death like you are doing above.

Simply enjoy each moment that you have, your loves, your connections, the things you do to help make this world better for others... and simply show love and peace as you are able.

These are things that we should do, regardless of the goalposts.

what constitutes an activity as worthwile? is there even such a thing if years after our death it makes no difference, and even later we are pretty much forgotten?

For me... the measurement of a worthwhile activity would be... did it bring someone else peace or joy or comfort or help.

Not to speak against doing the same for myself... because a person who is at peace, is better equipped to give peace to others. (same with someone who is filled with love, or joy, etc)

was Solomon onto something when he said (if he said it) - it's all a vanity, and an effort against the wind.

He may have been. But I think he might have been speaking more toward our selfish ambitions and deeds. At least, that is what I think. Work, work, work... to build yourself up, caring little for those around you... and that legacy is in vain at best (because you will die and it will be lost to the wind); and harmful at worst because you may have taught others (family, friends, children) to live their lives in the same selfish way.

Solomon might also have been feeling morbid at the time ;)

Peace,

tammy

EntirelyPossible

Despite claims to the contrary, there is zero evidence for anything past this life.

Make it a good one.

Londo111

I don’t feel it is. When our time comes, the love ones who’ve passed on before us will lead us to Heaven. We will have a Life Review. Then it will be time for Eternity.

cofty

When our time comes, the love ones who’ve passed on before us will lead us to Heaven. We will have a Life Review. Then it will be time for Eternity.

What are you basing this on Londo?

AMO

Mmmm good question.

I my self came to the conclusion in my teens that this is it, there is no god, where born, we live, we die. Up to now in my life i havn't come across any thing that has shaken that belief. What we do in the live bit is totaly down to us, wether good bad or indifferent, its up to us. What i do believe is that are very last thought will last for eturity, so i for one am going to make sure its a bloody good one,lol.

Londo111

Cofty...just presenting my opinion. If people are seeking an alternative thought to eternal death, it’s just a google away. I try not to participate in the Believer vs Atheist debates. I don’t feel it’s what this forum should be about.

jgnat

I think I've shared this before, but I'll repeat it here. Ever read the starfish story? In the face of the enormity of the need, our contributions are very small. Do it anyways.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Roosevelt

return of parakeet

"O my soul, do not aspire to immortal life, but exhaust the limits of the possible."

– Pindar, Pythian iii

So, is this present life it??

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