Immortatility

[Bill]

I had one of my "thoughts" tonight.:blush:

If someone said that you were immortal and so would live forever, would that cure your anxiety?

What if they then said there would be no diseases so no illness could harm you?

What if they said there was nothing you ever need fear again?

Would these things cure your anxiety???

Hmmm, if I'm right, I think you'd still carry on feeling anxious....but why if there was actually nothing ever to fear again???

I suspect there are at least 2 reasons why. One being that it is our nature to worry so we'll always find something to worry about, whether it's about finances or the way we look!

The other reason I can think of is our "fear of feeling fear". It'll still prevent us walking down the road because we'll still fear passing out!

So what then does that say about us?

We can seek comfort and reassurances for our fears but we'll still move on to something else to worry us.

So if taking away everything that causes us fear doesn't work, it must mean we actually live "in" fear. Fear is within "us" which then means it's up to us to learn how to cope with "ourselves" and our "thinking processes" that prevent us doing what we want to do.

I'm not meaning to sound like I'm preaching because this was just a thought I had tonight...I was actually watching Star Trek Voyager at the time and they showed "Q" who is immortal!!!:blush:

[Karen]

I agree with a lot of those points Bill. Anxiety is a normal physiological response that helps with survival but the trouble is that we tend to 'worry' about things that are not in fact actually life threatening.

I have to say that if I learned that I was immortal I would be devastated. To me life is long enough without the thought of it going on forever :ohmy:

Karen xx

[Coni]

I agree with Karen....my first thought when I read this was horror....i have enough trouble navigating my way through my life just now....I dont know if Id want that to go on forever.

I think you are right Bill, that the fear is in us (well me at least)...as soon as I get over one thing another crops up....fear of the unknown or the unexpected is a biggie....and I find very often that no matter how much I seek reassurance from 'outside' it never really calms my fears....so the answer lies inside us then.....I just wish I could find it lol!

Coni XXX

[chicken licken]

I think you have it bang on, reading your post made complete sense to me, they are basically 'THE' questions that I fear and even if I did get those magic answers, to ease my spaghetti brain I would still manage to find something else to go and tourture my self over.
Its like Im not happy unless I m in a state of panic and scared to death and yet Im so unhappy and fed up with always being in a panic and tired of being scared.

sometimes I find I do a lot of flapping and fearing and I dont even know what it is Im worried about or fearing ,I just am....

Ive found learning how to cope with myself is easier in theory than practice,
I want to give myself a good hard slap round the face and just 'pull myself together!'
The saying 'I'm my own worst enemy' springs to mind right now ;)

[milly jones]

bill,

the thought of living forever with the bad thoughts and anxious predictions fills me with horror

im glad my life is finite

one day i will escape the pain

as ive often said its only my son that keeps me going

ive no fear of dying, except that it would hurt him

mill x

[kazzie]

Hi Bill:D

If Ive got something real to worry about Im fine

As soon as I have nothing to worry about I will find something:wacko:

Kaz x x x:hugs:

[Bill]

When we have something real to worry about, our minds are focussed on working out ways to deal with the problem but when we have nothing to worry about, our minds will wander onto negative thoughts because fear controls our thought processes.

This is why finding enjoyable or complicated things to do and look forward to can help so much because they distract our minds from finding worries that produce our panicky feelings. These enjoyable things can also give us a reason to live!

The other day a friend who keeps chickens told me her sister asked when her cockerell was also going to start laying eggs! Ermmm, it's a boy! my friend replied. Her sister is a pure blonde by the way. See, there is always something enjoyable in life to make you laugh!:D

[yor5150]

Life is too long as it is. There is too much in this world that weighs me down. I hope and pray that death is relief for all our sufferings here on earth.

[Meewah]

Good to hear your wisdom again Bill.

The quack said to me when I got anxiety, "dont get in to the cycle of fear of fear" Guess what I developed it and wish I had never heard those words. 2 Years and counting. Some days I feel I have had enough but then I think how selfish.

I'm Tierd now.....goodbye and take care. Keep up the good work.

Mee

[pooh]

Hi

If I was told I was immortal that would be it anxiety free for me. I do believe however it might get bloody boring after about two hundred years or so lol and would we age or still look relatively young? lol mmmmm

Pooh x

[freakedout]

Hi Bill,

Where have you been for so long? Hope you are well.

What a bizarre post, but it did get me thinking. Immortality is a horrible thought, it reminds me of the film The Green Mile that poor bloke that just gets older and older and everyone around him dies off! I often have to question the meaning of life though, I am not sure what it is all about - that is just typical of me - negative. Living forever without anxiety just seems too unrealistic, anxiety, fear, fight or flight are inexorably linked with being human without them what would we be?

I definately don't want to even think about living forever, but if I had a happy life maybe I would. What about you Bill, would you like to be immortal? Keep your thoughts coming.

TC
Freaky

[Bill]

I'm full of bizarre deep thoughts....put politely! lol

In answer to your question, No, I wouldn't because I'd always find something to worry about because I care too much and it'd be nice to think I might see my father again one day.

In the broader picture, if only one person was immortal it would lead to a very lonely existence because they'd always lose all the people they care about. I think Robin Williams was in a film not long ago as a robot who outlived everyone which illustrated how someone might feel.

There would be no fathers, mothers, sons or daughters because if there were the world would rapidly become overcrowded and where would people live? Good people would stay but then so would evil so there would probably be constant wars as people could never forgive whereas new generations don't always share the same experiences.

I think the world and the universe has a natural order. Nothing lives forever whether it's biological or geological. Time always moves on and everything changes with it.

Everything creates offspring whether it's a new sun, new planet, new star or new island. Nature always creates new trees, new plants, new animals and new insects. We are just part of the same order that exists all around us.

Why and for what reason, who knows but I feel to accept anxiety is to accept the order of life and accept what living means that we live and one day we die and there's nothing we can do to ultimately prevent it. We can only "try" to enjoy our stay with the life that has been granted us but that's far easier said than done I know.

I just feel that if you're a worrier, you'll always find something to worry about so we need to learn the triggers and how to cope when they occur so that we don't spend all our lives focussing on worries we can't do anything about so that we can find some enjoyment in living because like my father used to say "We only live once but we spend a long time dead" so unless you believe there's something better to look forward to, it's better to try and enjoy what we've been given in living.:hugs:

[sheena]

I have a great fear of dying. Just not being here and living my life.

If I could live say another 100 years and not get any age related illness or get any more wrinkles I would go for it.

The fear of death has lead me to lead a very unadventurous life and since the anxiety and agoraphobia I worry that if I go to a crowed place, say the cinema or a train I worry all the time that a bomb is going to go off.

I couldn't drive my car for about 2 years as I would panic if I got in a hold up and was very fearful that if I had an accident I would be unable to escape. I gave up smoking 3 years ago but still have a cigarette in the coat I have on when I am driving 'in case' this happens.

I say things like if I live to be seventy I only have X amount of years left to live and I scare myself. I also obsess, quite a bit about dementia.

Sheena


CBT, and the people on this site, helped me to get back out into the world again and now I can drive within a 3 miles radius of my home.