When did it dawn on you that one day you'd die, and were you 'bovvered'?

[One Love]

I think learning about death is a gradual thing, rather than a sudden realisation, which is why I doubt many of us remember it as a specific moment - but instead early life experiences such as pets or grandparents dying & being told by our parents that they have gone to heaven or similar euphemisms form a foundation for this understanding. Then as we grow up we simply come to understand it as an inevitability of life without ever dwelling on it too much.

I think this is a good description of what happens in The West. In The East they definitely are more conscious of it than us whereas I don't believe we give it too much thought.

Having been in the doctor's room being told you have cancer and the walls collapsing in on you though I don't think anything can quite prepare you for becoming instantly conscious of your mortality. Then I lived in a sort of state of shock for a while before I had an experience one night of what some have called "The dark night of the soul" which was pretty gruesome. However after that I had acceptance and to this day I now have absolutely no fear of death.

 

[SeagullSongs]

Can you remember the place you were in before you were born?

At death that is the place you are going back to.

No problem.

My mother's womb?

 

[Normal Rob]

Over the last year i have had one family member (on my wife's side) murdered and I lost my father on christmas eve. This has brought the inevitable prospect of death much further towqards the forefront of my thinking. I don't think that the fact that I am approaching 40 helps either. The loss of my father hit hard, very hard. It means that my great grandfather, grandfather and own father all died when they were 70, of heart attacks. All three were 'fit as a fiddle' prior to their attack. I have 30 years left (god willing) - this may not even be enough time to see my own children (all girls, the eldest having just turned 7) make me a grandfather. The propect of that, or maybe having such a short time with them, saddens me greatly.

 

[Gullys Cats]

I'm 31 now and I think about death a lot and it scares the shit out of me.

 

[DIFFBROOK]

I think all of as we get older, the realisation that we will die sinks in. When we are children we know that we will die, but its something that happens to old people. Even in our 20s and 30s we tend to think this way. thats partly why these age groups smoke, drink, do other risky pursuits. We think that cancer linked to smoking and booze will happen to us later in life, and we will give up long before that. Do we ever accept death? Do we even when we are old. Isnt there a reason to live? Maybe not if we are in chronic pain etc.

Its in the middle age group where I think the reasisation of death hits home. We can see that we are not as fit as we once were, we can also relate to others around us who have succomed to illness, or we can see old age creeping on us. Yet in our minds we are still young. Its far too early.

For me personally, I am 47. still consider myself fit and have a 6 year old. I was told in March that I had a polyp in my bowel that needs to come out and that they cant rule out cancer. That hit me really hard. I simply couldnt believe that this was happening to me at my age. I wasnt old, I was still fit and I had a young family. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried. I was so scared. I had so much to do with my life. My past years was all about me, but I wanted to see my daughter grow up, see her develop into a young women. Yet I was being told that I may have something inside of me that could potentially kill me.

Boy did i pray to God. I couldnt have the polyp removed in the normal way and had to undergo surgery. The month leading up to surgery was hell.....with worry. Thankfully once it was removed it showed only pre cancer. But if I had left it, or it wasnt spotted then this time next year things would have been different. I'm recovering now and my take on life is so different.

I used to dwell on things and I would worry about the smallest things. Now, I just take things as they are. Family and friends are so precious and I really make an effort to enjoy moments with them.

I think we always know about death, but as get older maybe we expect it more, but I dont think we accept it anymore.
di
Btw, please always check your bowel movements. any signs of something wrong, blood in your stools, constipation, diareah for more than 2 weeks etc, then please see your GP and get yourself checked out. Dont stick your head in the sand and hope it will go away.