if you had the option to know when and how you were going to die....

would you want to know?

i think i would want to know but only if i was going to live to be 80 or older.

what about you guys and gals

reply to post by Boondock78


Hmmm, never really thought about this one before.

Why would you want to know, though? I'm interested to hear why you would. Why only if you lived to be about 80?

It's important to live a quality life even if you only live to say, 25.

I like the surprise element life has to offer us. For example, I was asked if I wanted to know the sex of my children while I was pregnant and had ultra sound tests. I declined. I thought it would be a more exciting moment at their birth to find out then.

Ever get into a birthday present or a Christmas gift early that someone had hidden? It ruins the surprise. Unless you confess that you got into it, then you have to "fake" the surprise.

I think if I knew before hand when I was going to die, it would cause me to "fake" life experiences that would have occurred at random.

edit spelling


[edit on 29-12-2007 by Enthralled Fan]

No, because of self-fulfilling "prophecy."

If someone told me they absolutely knew when I'd die and how, and I could suspend my disbelief long enough to believe them, the possibility that being told this information would be the cause of my death is too great. I read a story about this once. A king was told the date and method of his death, and he ended up causing it to make the prophecy come true.

Death should be a mystery.

Even if there was a way to prove that this particular date/time/method were the actual correct one, the dread of waiting for it to come to pass would probably ruin my quality of life.

Some people don't want to know the sex of their unborn child. Some of us don't want to know when/how we're going to die.

Originally posted by Enthralled Fan


Why would you want to know, though? I'm interested to hear why you would. Why only if you lived to be about 80?

It's important to live a quality life even if you only live to say, 25.

i figure if i knew i was gonna make it to 80 then i could handle the news that i was gonna die on a certain day/time.
i am almost 30 and if i knew that i was gonna die when i was 31, i think i would be miserable for that last year.

i am scared of death but if i KNEW that i had 50 more years, i would be like

know what i'm sayin

Originally posted by MajorMalfunction


Even if there was a way to prove that this particular date/time/method were the actual correct one, the dread of waiting for it to come to pass would probably ruin my quality of life.

i see it as the opposite for me, but only if i had a lot of years left..
thats why i said 80 years....

i think if i knew for a fact that i had 50 more years, i'd be able to come to terms with it and live a solid life....

In my mind a surprise is something good that you get to enjoy after the initial shock.I cannot put that together with death.
I could argue this either way.
If I knew I was going to die,I would probably do everything I ever wanted to do, and didn't.
Like the new movie.."The Bucket List".
But of course, would you really enjoy what you are doing, knowing the real reason is just because you knew when you were going to die?Would that not be in the back of your mind every day, no matter what you did?
NEWSFLASH!!!
Everyone is dying right now.Some have longer than others.The point is we try not to think about it.We busy ourselves with day to day life, putting off what we would really rather be doing sometimes.
Stop and smell the roses.
A very wise person told me, Live the next ten minutes as if they are your last.
Do it.Always.
If all you can take with you when you depart this life is knowledge, experience,and love..what the hell are you wasting your time with other stuff for?

I could never say it better than Tim McGraw



He said I was in my early forties, with a lot of life before me
And one moment came that stopped me on a dime
I spent most of the next days, looking at the x-rays
Talking bout' the options and talking bout' sweet times.
I asked him when it sank in, that this might really be the real end
How's it hit 'cha when you get that kind of news?
Man what did ya do?
He said

I went skydiving
I went rocky mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denyin'
And he said some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'

He said I was finally the husband, that most the time I wasn't
And I became a friend, a friend would like to have
And all of a sudden goin' fishin, wasn't such an imposition
And I went three times that year I lost my dad
Well I finally read the good book, and I took a good long hard look
At what I'd do if I could do it all again
And then

I went skydiving
I went rocky mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Shu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denyin'
And he said some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'

Like tomorrow was the end
And ya got eternity to think about what to do with it
What should you do with it
What can I do with it
What would I do with it

Skydiving
I went rocky mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And man I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'
And he said some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'

To live like you were dyin'

You know, in 1992 when I was diagnosed with HIV, they said I had 3 years to live.

I was in shock just waiting to die for those three years. Seriously depressed. I wouldn't want to go through that again.

It took over six years to finally accept that the doctor who said that to me was wrong and that life wasn't anywhere near over for me yet.

Here it is, nearly 16 years later, and I'm still here.

I'd rather not know. Live in the here & now, is the best anyone can do.

At 80 or so I would like to be shot dead by an irate husband; sneeking out the backdoor of his house after making love to his beautiful 22year old wife.

Of course this is just a silly fantasy and an attempt at humor with a very dark subject.

For good men but see death, the wicked taste it.
Johnson

or.....

"It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." Woody Allen

[edit on 29-12-2007 by whaaa]

I would love to know when I was going to die, even if it is next week some time. I'm only 17, but there are a lot of folks I would need to see before I take the big dirt nap.
Lots of people to say goodbye to, and a lot of folks to tell "go to hell."
Lots of people to thank for all the good times, even the not so good times, but were there for me anyway, and one person to proclaim my undying(oh, Science, I'm funny) love for.
If I could chose how I would want to die, either a brain aneurysm, so long as it went undetected, or in my sleep.

Kenny Chesney says it best:

I turned on the evenin' news
Saw an old man being interviewed
Turnin' a hundred and two today
They asked him what's the secret to life
He looked up from his ol' pipe
Laughed and said, 'All I can say is'

Chorus

Don't blink
Just like that
You're six years old and you take a nap
And you wake up and you're twenty-five
And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growin' like mine did
Turnin' into moms and dads
Next thing you know
Your better half of fifty years is there in bed
And you're prayin' God takes you instead
Trust me friend
A hundred years goes faster than you think
(So) (But) don't blink

2nd Verse

I was glued to my TV
When it looked like he looked at me
And said, 'Let's start puttin' first things first'
'Cause when your hourglass runs outta sand
You can't flip it over, start again
Took every breath God gives you, for what it's worth

(Repeat Chorus)

Bridge

So I been tryin' to slow it down
I been tryin' to take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we're livin' in

(Repeat Chorus)



[edit on 30-12-2007 by thehumbleone]

Most people would say no, thank you, to this one, i think.
I'm sure the reason we dont know is that our quality of life would be ruined. I think nature was correct in not giving us this knowing.

For those who beleive in 2012, do you actually like the feeling the Mayans could be right??

I wouldn't want to know...I also hope it is swift. My father went quick and my brother went slow. No one should have to go through what my brother did. Liver cancer.

Boon,

I honestly don't want to know.

I live by the axiom:

Prepare for the worst; hope/plan for the best.

I take each day as it comes. I have fears, hopes, desires, just like everyone else, and deal with them to the best of my abilities.

I can have depressing moments - like everyone. It's HOW I deal with these moments, that make a 'difference'.

If I see something on TV; something that is VERY upsetting, or hear of bad news in my immediate area, rest assured, tears will run down my cheeks.

The feeling of helplessness kicks in.

If I see something that is soooooo extraordinary, or beautiful, mabey even EXTREMELY funny, sometimes the tears will run down my cheeks - but in a GREAT way. It's at that point, I'm probably doubled over with laughter, and I'm smiling til the cows come home.

It's because of these things in life, that I DON'T WANT TO KNOW...when I leave this earth.

When it happens - it happens.

And, when it comes time, to leave my beautiful family, friends, and earth, I hope that I'm a wrinkly old woman, with soooo many 'laugh-lines', and that the last beating of my heart will happen when I'm sleeping.

Dreaming....

To go from this dream...
...perhaps unto another.

Love,

~Ducky~

I'm not if i would want to know. I would be happy just to see my boys grow up.