How long of a life is long enough?

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DannyB1954 said:
I think everybody believes, they just don't know it. I will try to prove that to you. 

I believe I will have another beer.

I live with a constant pain level of 7.  I have seen things happening in this world that showes me we are  one egocentric leader away from becoming a 3rd world country where nobody has any hope.  

I refuse to die the way my father did.
 
DannyB1954 said:
If there is no power in the universe greater than you, who are you talking to when you hope? Are you talking to yourself?

Yes. Just like I'm talking to myself when I want anything else. Hope = want.

Shit happens, which affects how or if other things happen, which affects how or if still other things happen, and so on. Life is a big Butterfly Effect. Sometimes the cascading effects benefit us, sometimes they don't. So when I hope for a certain outcome, I'm merely wanting it to be one of the times it works out for me.
 
I have hope in humanity, not a deity, fwiw. Although, I am really being tested on that humanity thing lately.
 
Without getting into the religious aspects of life after death I look at death as a kind of relief. No more effort is needed to keep life going. As far as fear is concerned for me it would be dying a gruesomely painful death. If I know ahead cancer or some painful disease is in the offing I plan to use the exit bag instead.
 
I hear this often from my peers (mid 50's to mid 60's) and keep wondering if our parents felt this sense of despair that seems to infuse our generation. Life is hard, it has always been a struggle, there was no (or a very small) boom time, we earn less, have less savings, have crap retirements. Not saying we haven't a lot of fun, and still harbor some hope that it will get better, but overall maybe it's not really despair but more like resignation. We also aren't as encumbered with the deep religious convictions many of our parents had (at least many of us).
 
Personally, I feel no despair but just tend to look at things differently than most. Death may be as I said relief but it is still worth the effort to live as long as you're living a good life.
 
For me it will never be long enough, I will always have something I want to do, somewhere I want to go, someone I want to know, a project on the go, a fantasy I want to explore, a dream I want to come true. My last painting will go unsigned.
 
I did not read through this thread. Why don't you check back with me when you are faced with your own decision, you know right when you are offered the choice, right now, not what you will do in the future.
 
Living Willl and a Do Not Resuscitate orders filed with ALL family members (better make sure they are on board with it because they can reverse it after you have lost ability to make your own decisions). Also copies on your person anx with local hospital if are in a stick and brick.

Dont assume you will go out on your own terms, often that is wishful thinking.
 
My condolences to those that have lost loved ones, or going through tribulations of their own. Odd that as I read through this thread Pink Floyd came on the radio playing comfortably numb.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
ccbreder said:
I did not read through this thread. Why don't you check back with me when you are faced with your own decision, you know right when you are offered the choice, right now, not what you will do in the future.

This seems confrontational, and I'm not sure where that is coming from?

I have faced my own mortality and my answer remains the same.
 
Raven+Squid said:
Living Willl and a Do Not Resuscitate orders filed with ALL family members (better make sure they are on board with it because they can reverse it after you have lost ability to make your own decisions). Also copies on your person anx with local hospital if are in a stick and brick.

Dont assume you will go out on your own terms, often that is wishful thinking.

Depends on your Final Methodology. If I have my way, hospitals and doctors will have nothing to do with it.
Sometimes,I envy my older family members' faith, but I am fine with my place in the Grand Scheme of Things. All things end.
 
LeeRevell said:
Depends on your Final Methodology.  If I have my way, hospitals and doctors will have nothing to do with it.
Sometimes,I envy my older family members' faith, but I am fine with my place in the Grand Scheme of Things.  All things end.

Strokes, anuresyms, car accidents, bad infections ...on and on...many things that sneak up on you can take that control away instantly.

That paperwork has some value. It'll keep the doc away!!
 
I understand that we are living longer now days.  As a Lawyer told my Grand Parents,  "it's possible to live too long".  My grandmother actually did as her last five years was in an alzheimer's condition where she didn't know where she was when sitting in her own home,  or who most of her family was.  Physically she was quite fit for her age.

The reason I mention this is no matter the body we have if we don't have our mental faculties we have nothing and we become someone that someone else has to look after.  I understand people in their 50's can be hit with alzheimer's. 

To me the end of the line comes when we don't have our mental sensory faculties, physical health, or mobility.
That age will vary with each of us.

From the Book, "The Shawshank Redemption"  the character Andy Dufresne, an imprisoned accountant, makes a statement which is now famous.    "I guess it comes down a simple choice: Get busy living, or get busy dying."

Meaning to me,   do something with your life while you have it,  and let death take care of itself....just as birth did.
 
Raven+Squid said:
Living Willl and a Do Not Resuscitate orders filed with ALL family members (better make sure they are on board with it because they can reverse it after you have lost ability to make your own decisions). Also copies on your person anx with local hospital if are in a stick and brick.

Dont assume you will go out on your own terms, often that is wishful thinking.

Just saying that this statement would be better if it stated that depending on what state you live in, these Living Will and D.N.R. may be reversible.  I think it is like a lot of legalese, it depends on where you reside, and how up to date the legal papers are. jmho
 
Start at the beginning and continue til you reach the end, then stop
I fear death less than disability, I doubt anyone will be there for me, and I'd rather nor suffer in helplessness
I might feel differently if the choice were imminent, I can't say for sure until I stare that choice in the face, up close and personal
 
Raven+Squid said:
Strokes, anuresyms, car accidents, bad infections ...on and on...many things that sneak up on you can take that control away instantly.

That paperwork has some value. It'll keep the doc away!!

Operative words...... "IF I have my way....."
S**T happens, of course, but we can only hope for better things.
 
gsfish said:
A few years ago I had a swap meet vendors spot at Barber Motorsports Museum's "Vintage Festival".
http://www.barbermuseum.org/events/barber-vintage-festival/

One early morning a wiry old timer was looking over my merchandise and gave him the standard greeting "How's it going?" to which he answered... "I'm doing pretty good, I woke up this morning and could wipe my own butt. When I have to pay someone to wipe my butt I'll know it is time to go!" I tend to agree with him.

Guy

I've been to Barber's, an amazing place all motorcycle and auto enthusiasts should visit at least once in their life.
I have a standard quip to that question too..... "I could complain, but nobody listens!" :)
As the man once said, "Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative!"
 
I applaud any human\animal\whatever that fights till the end. However, I am not one that fights that hard to live, I enjoy what I am given and when the time comes for me, I will go out grateful for the chance to experience this crazy blue lil rock.
 
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