Overcoming the Fear of Death

I remember when I was younger, I used to hear the saying “stop taking life so seriously, we all end up dead in the end anyways.” This saying used to sound so morbid and negative to me, but now my perspective on life has changed and I see that saying in a whole new light. It may sound very negative…but it’s true!

At first I thought this probably wouldn’t be the best topic to blog about considering the topic of death naturally makes people uncomfortable. However, there is SO much power and bliss when you can overcome the fear of dying, so I decided to go ahead and write it for the people who are ready to hear this perspective. For me personally, overcoming this fear has improved my life drastically and decreased my panic attacks, as the fear of dying was the root cause of most of them. The point of this Blog is to write about things that I learned that has helped me live a happier, more fulfilled life and this is one of the more impactful lessons I’ve learned along my journey.

This past year has naturally brought out so much fear in people as a result of COVID-19 and has really forced myself and many others to do some self-reflection. In the beginning of it all, I remember feeling a little uneasy about the virus because there were so many unknowns about it. Humans don’t like the unknown- it creates discomfort for a reason. I believe it is a natural survival mechanism that comes from deep within our core being. And even though a lot of people around me seemed so afraid, I noticed I personally was less fearful of the virus compared to most of them. I thought to myself, I’m probably not as afraid of it as I’m young and healthy, have no children or grandparents to worry about, statistically my chances of dying were very low and I was lucky enough to not know anyone close to me who passed away from it. Even when I was hearing and reading stories of people who had long-term effects from the virus, to my surprise, I still wasn’t really afraid of it. I watched and read the News, read my weekly CDC email updates and worked as a nurse during all of it. I took it seriously, but I was not afraid like many of my family members, co-workers and friends were. I actually felt guilty sometimes for not being afraid like everyone else. Which is what brought me to writing this Blog post. I finally realized why I was not as afraid. It had nothing to do with my being uneducated, childless, selfish or naïve like some people would automatically assume, instead, I realized I was just no longer afraid of death like I once was and how so many people are.

You do not have to be afraid of something to take it serious. I think many people have forgotten that this last year. I noticed it would make people angry sometimes if I expressed that I was not afraid of it because to them, it was me saying I didn’t care about it nor did I take it seriously. To the contrary, I always acknowledged the virus was real and did what had to be done for it, but would not allow myself to live in fear of getting it everyday. Not only is living that way so unhealthy and will most likely weaken your immune system, I believe in the Law of Attraction and if you worry about something every day, put all this energy into it, read about it, talk about it, you will attract it. I think it is much easier said than done. It took me 30 years to finally let go of that fear and just allow whatever is meant for me and those around me.

Most of my life I was afraid of dying, even as a kid I remember being afraid of death and the unknown around it at such a young age. And it’s much easier to be afraid these days with the media constantly pushing fear down our throats. The fear the media pushes is more contagious than the actual disease in my opinion.

Over the past few years, I started to go through a “spiritual awakening” as a lot of people would call it, and as I became more spiritual, I also became less afraid. I started to view life in a different, brighter lens. I stopped looking at life like it was just this dangerous, stressful place to be and instead started seeing all the beauty, excitement and adventure in life. I also developed a new perspective on death and view it as more of a renewal now instead of this dark, dreadful part of life.

Some Tips to help you Overcome the Fear of Death:

*First do some self-reflection and acknowledge this fear may be the root cause of your anxiety

*If you catch yourself spiraling in panic over something that scares you, take a deep breath and ask yourself what is the point of your panic? Will this help to avoid your fear from actually happening or just make it worse?

*Spend more time around people who are positive and calming to be around. We all have those people in our lives that are easily afraid of many things and try to push their fear onto us; take a break from these people or try to ask them not to discuss such things when you are around. Surround yourself with people who make you feel better, not worse.

*Explore religious and/or spiritual practices as this may change your perspective on death and help to ease your anxiety around it as it did for me

*Learn to accept that death is a natural part of this life here on Earth

*Focus on what you CAN control. For instance, if you are afraid of dying from a heart attack, try to exercise more, eat better, quit smoking or any bad habits you may have etc.

It’s in our DNA to be afraid of death for survival purposes, so I don’t believe we are capable of 100% overcoming this fear, however, I do believe we are living in TOO much fear these days and allowing it to dictate our everyday lives. And maybe some of you reading this aren’t really afraid of dying and you don’t let the media scare you-that is great! While others may be like me at first and not even realize the root cause of most of their fears is dying. Death is inevitable and if we can learn to accept this fact and be ok with it, we will have more freedom to fully enjoy our lives instead of being afraid too.

Death is still going to be devastating to the people you leave behind of course, but my new perspective also helps me cope with that as well. Every individual and every culture has their own beliefs around death so I don’t want to go into everything I personally believe because that is not the point of this post. My point is, letting go of this fear (or any fears you may have) and allowing what is meant to be, will help you to create a healthier, happier life. You can actually live life and enjoy it instead of being afraid of it. It doesn’t mean I purposely partake in reckless activities now (because I still don’t WANT to die at this time) I’m just no longer living in fear majority of the time like I used too, because I realized there is no point to live like that. It doesn’t make you any safer, it just makes you more vulnerable in my opinion.

Life is short and we don’t know when our time here is over, so we need to acknowledge that from time to time and create a life we won’t regret ♡

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