Accepting my own mortality, and the naturalness of death - the final step in my JW recovery.

by fresh prince of ohio 61 Replies latest jw friends

  • nonjwspouse
    nonjwspouse

    read my Fathers Funeral 8 1/2 months ago.

    Life that matters

    Ready or Not, someday it will all come to an end

    There will be no more suprises, no minutes, houors, or days

    All the things you collected whether treasures or baubles, will pass to someone else

    Your wealth, fame and temproal power

    will shrivel into irrelevance

    It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed

    Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally dissapear

    So too your hopes, ambitions, plans to-do lists will expire

    The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away

    It won't matter where you came from or oon what side of the tracts you lived at the end

    It won't matter whether you were beauriful or brilliant

    Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant

    So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

    What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;

    Not what you got, but what you gave.

    What will matter is not your success but your signifigance

    What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught

    What will matter is every act of integriyt, compassion or sacrifice

    that enriched,empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example

    What will matter is not your competance, but your character

    What will matter is not how many people you know,

    but how many people will feel a lasting loss whn you're gone.

    What will matter is not your memories, but the memories of thosethat live in those that loved you

    What will matter us how long you will be remembered , and by whom and for what

    Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.

    it is not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

    This took a while to write because the tears kept me from seeing the screen. I will never forget the last time I saw my Daddy smile, was when my youngest, 8 year old daughter hugged her near death grandfather and said "Grandpa I will never forget you". He smiled for such a very long time, at a time when he was barely even moving. He watched her every movement and looked into her eyes.

    Death is certian for everyone, it is part of life. So we all must try to live a life that matters.

  • fresh prince of ohio
    fresh prince of ohio

    Wow nonjwspouse...I'm speechless.

  • nonjwspouse
    nonjwspouse

    Me to FPOO, thank you. And I know ( how? let's call it a "feeling" ) you will be finding your life increasingly better as each new day comes. The guilt of a break up, and also coming to terms with mortality, are both pretty major things to contemplate. But once you do, and recognise life is what you make of it. Then the rest falls into place.

    Pease to you FPOO, from aborn in Ohio gal myself. :-)

  • fresh prince of ohio
  • Gypsy Sam
    Gypsy Sam

    Reading Mortality, by Hitchens, was huge for me. I only wished I'd read it earlier and developed a more realistic, accepting approach when I was dealing with someone in my world dying from cancer. Accepting the inevitable it freeing.

  • Julia Orwell
    Julia Orwell

    I found it very comforting when I came to your realisation, Fresh Prince. It was actually a relief. One day, we will go to sleep, able to look back and then rest our weary bones. No pressure to live forever as a JW.

  • Apognophos
    Apognophos

    I honestly never cared all that much about living forever, so this hasn't been a big blow to me yet, though I think that I might have a harder time as I actually get older or experience health problems. That being said, although I did look forward to having lots of time in the new world to develop skills, learn about the universe, and create things, I've never attached that much importance to myself that I feel like the world needs me to be around forever.

    I'm content with just trying to contribute a little and then passing on (hopefully not too painfully or slowly). I tend to think of myself as part of a continuum of life, rather than an irreplaceably unique individual. Once I'm done with the resources that I'm using, they'll go back to the ground and be reused by other life, and the world will go on. I do hope to live long enough to be able to get a better idea of how things are going to turn out for humanity, however.

  • fresh prince of ohio
    fresh prince of ohio

    Gypsy Sam, I tried to read Hitchens once and found his writing too combative and difficult. I may give that book a try though.

    Julia yes...who wants to live forever? Not me. Like i said in the opening post, the JW living forever business is really about not dying, because when you think about living for trillions upon billions of trillions of years, it doesn't seem quite so appealing.

    Apognophos, what though if things don't turn out well in the long run? I'm not sure I want to live to see how it all plays out. It's the unknown, the uncertainty, that drive me crazy and make me desire a quick and painless way out.

  • cofty
  • paranoia agent
    paranoia agent

    If people didn't die, there wouldn't be room for new life.

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