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If life is just a bowl of cherries, then death must be the pits. Fear of death is common among we humans, although fear of public speaking seems to frequently beat it out for the number one fear. What is interesting about the fear of death is that it seems to be quite universal.

Fear of Death and Religious Faith

One would expect that religious faith would protect one from the fear of death. This seems not to be so. If a religious individual expects to suffer the torments of hell, then fear of death would make sense. But even among those who count themselves among the righteous, death still holds some dread.

The only group that rather consistently appears to be unafraid of death is those who have died. Near Death Experiencers usually are no longer afraid of death. Some look forward to it. Even those few who have negative NDEs seem to be less afraid of death than most.

As for those who profess no religious faith, they certainly aren't concerned about going to hell regardless of what their Christian friends tell them. Believing that death is the end of it all seems to cause less fear among atheists. But fearing death seems to be a personal matter not that connected with religious faith or the lack of it. Those who are afraid of death are afraid and those who are not are not.

Other Factors, Other Fears

Some who may think that they are afraid of death may really be afraid of something else. Many are afraid of suffering a serious illness. They are afraid of a lingering, painful death. They are afraid of losing their capabilities and becoming invalids.

Many are afraid of mental disintegration, dementia or Alzheimer's. Some would prefer death to such a drawn out mentally degenerative process. Other illnesses are painful and debilitating on their own or cause suffering due to the medical procedures that attempt to bring about a cure.

Getting Old

It may not be dying that really causes our fear of dying. Actual death seems to be harder on the living than on the deceased. Whether one dies young or in ripe old age, it is those left behind that suffer the grief and loss.

Whatever your age, if you get hit by a brick and drop dead tomorrow, it won't matter much whether you were afraid of death or not. Whenever we die or however we die, death is the end of suffering. It is the end of pain and worry. It is the ultimate healing.

If we die and then find out that there is no death, that our spirit continues, we can deal with it then. If the hellfire and brimstone preachers are right, then we'll have to deal with judgment day. If they're wrong, we might find out that it's party time. In any case, death is inevitable in the physical world, as far as we know.

Because of that, we should enjoy our life as much as possible right up to our last breath and heartbeat. I think it is not death that we dread but growing old. We associate growing old with death but it is growing old that we actually experience, not death.

I think what we fear is the loss of our physical abilities and the loss of our mental abilities. My own bias is that the fear of aging is one of the principle causes of premature aging. When you're dealing with something you have no control over (time and cause of death), you might as well relax and enjoy the time you have.

The best thing we can possibly say when our time comes is, I have no regrets.

Learn more about this author, Bob Trowbridge.
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