I am now approaching the age that more and more people seem to be dying all over the place. Relatives, family of folks I know, neighbors, people with whom I work, all the human beings which I pass daily on the sidewalk, on the highway, in the woods, over the Internet. Lots and lots of perfectly normal people out there are going away, forever. Not only have I lost a father a couple years back, but most of the neighbor friends have lost one or two parents within the last year or so. Who will be next? The hard facts of life keep coming back and hitting us even though we try to forget about them all of the time. Reminders of the way nature has always meant it for us to be. Get born, grow up, (optionally) have offspring, get old and older, then go off into never never land. Just before you thought you had finally figured it all out. Get reabsorbed into the reality we chose to leave when we went out and got born, a bubble of awareness, and then good-bye.
I'm afraid to die. I'm afraid that I haven't lived a decent life. I hate to hear when people my age do stupid things and die stupid ways. I'm scared of death, I'm scared if there might be a Heaven, I'm scared if there might be a Hell. I'm not sure what to say, and I'd like to say something intelligent and have a nice response to your well-thought-out post, but I don't have one. Sorry.
We need to learn better to accept death as it comes and go forward in our lives on a day-to-day basis. Live now and never forget that death can take was away in a split second. Nothing to be afraid of.
What I find so amazing is how some people are so ready to accept death. I love living so much, I don't think I could ever be ready to "accept" dying. There's always something new to do, new to learn, etc. I think it's good when people are ready to accept death, and they have "found peace", etc. with God or whoever they believe in....
I just don't know if I will do that or not.
You only really start to live once you have led a full life here and then get to die.