NAVIGATING THE ART & SCIENCE OF BEING HUMAN

All of us were born on a given date, and likewise, all of us have been appointed a day of death. What becomes most important is how we spend our time in between birth and death. How will you make it count for something? What do you truly live for? Instead of having a fear of death, we can focus our energy around having lived our lives to the fullest. A lot of people, once they reach the age of 50 start to think more about their own mortality and fear of death.

6 Powerful Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Death

#1. Spend Quality Time with Your Loved Ones

As humans, we are made as social creatures. You want to spend your time in the company of people who make your life worth living. A lot of people will say that some of their happiest moments in life came from spending time with their loved ones.

This can do a lot to ease your fear of death too because you feel like you lived a life well spent. Challenge yourself to try new things with your loved ones and stay active with positive activities. If you have a toxic relationship, walk away from it. Many times, people fear death because they have not lived life on their own terms.

#2. See Death as a Natural Process

When you consider that 80 billion people who ever existed died, it helps you realize that death comes for us all, and it’s not as bad as we might think. Like what Norman Van Rooy, a near-death researcher, says, we often fear death because we fear the unknown. Instead of looking at death as a loss, you can view your life as a contribution to humanity. You had the honor to live, so show gratitude and celebrate the moment of death as it comes. You do not need to have a fear of death. Why should you be sad when you had the great opportunity to live?

#3. Focus Your Energy on Living a Quality Life

a woman in a field

You have plenty of things that improve the quality of life to live a healthier existence with greater positivity. Never forget the small things. In fact, small changes can make the greatest impact. You can dive deeper into your interests and write down a list of what you want to do to live a more fulfilling existence. When you focus more on living, you stress less about dying.

#4. Live for the Service of Others

One of the highest callings to overcome the fear of death involves living for others to make their lives better. Living well can be summed up with a single quote, “Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?” For example, are you serving others and doing your best every day to be an instrument of peace to others?

We can use this timeless quote to figure out if we are really living by the highest principles of our divine calling. When you think about that question, you can identify and prioritize the elements of your life worth giving importance. It often boils down to perspective. Setting yourself up spiritually is also important because it can go a long way to giving you peace of mind when facing death.

#5. Think About Death More Often

Think about it happening to both you and your loved ones. It sounds bad when you’re afraid of death, but seeing death in your mind teaches you how to appreciate life. In the philosophy of Stoicism, they teach you this type of negative visualization on death because eventually, it comes for us all. However, when we have thought about it like this, it has two effects. First, we appreciate our loved ones more while we have them. Second, we fear death less when it does happen because we have spent so much time mentally preparing for it.

Donna Authers, a professional caregiver, once said that death normally takes place under peaceful circumstances. She continued by saying few people die screaming. Most go to sleep. Despite that lesson, it took Authers years to learn this lesson that people don’t have to fear death.

In fact, death haunted her as a child. At just two years old, Authers’s father died in WWII, and on her fifth birthday, her mother died. She later found faith and talked about how people who have faith don’t grieve in the same way that people who have no hope grieve.

#6. Focus on Quality, Not Longevity

the words conquer fear everyday

Many times we have an emphasis on the longevity of life, and there is nothing wrong with that. Ray Kurzwell talks about living past 200, but is that really that important if you feel miserable? Instead, people should focus on improving the quality of their lives. The focus on making the most of the life you have almost has more importance than just living a long life. It’s not about how much time we have but what we do with the time we’ve been given.

To give you an idea of how far you can take this, Benjamin Franklin once said to do nothing unnecessary. When you live your life based on your principles, you have less fear of dying because you’ve had the chance to do the things you wanted. To take this even further, you can use the first 15 minutes of your day to plan how you will spend it most effectively.

Mark Twain once wrote that the fear of death comes from those who are afraid to live. Men and women who live fully are not afraid to die. In essence, by making the most of the life you’ve been given, you will feel less afraid to die. Death is a natural part of life, and when you consider that everyone who ever lived has died, what do we really have to fear it? If you have a fear of death, we encourage you to apply some of the tips in this article. When you live a more meaningful life, you feel less afraid to die.

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