fear of eternity

[lyn87]

I am not sure where this idea came from, and why it consumes me so much and others fail to obsess over it like I do but I am terrified of eternity after death.  I am not afraid of dying, but of eternity afterwards.  Do we remain aware of things?  This notion, even the idea of being in a happy place like heaven forever, terrifies me.  Anything, no matter how good, that continues without end, is my worst fear, and thinking about it literally forms knots in my stomach and intense fear.  I know that the answer to this can not be proven, and most would find relief in the idea of eternity, but it is my worst fear.  Does anyone else share this fear?  What can I do?  

[Catvest]

Wow. I stumbled upon this in the midst of a panic attack that is keeping me awake tonight. I am very reassured by the fact I am not alone, so I am grateful for this. I have many of the same phobia characteristics others have described, I'm 23 now and have been dealing with this roughly 13 years. I am a Christian, and believe in a beautiful perfect Heaven, but that still doesn't stop fear from clouding my vision. I suppose beyond the basic what-if-I-get-bored scenario, and the trying to wrap my mind around the concept of infinity, the thing I most fear is lack of seasons. Having recently become a mom I'm starting to appreciate a new season in my life, and the fact that as humans we constantly change and adapt. I guess it just terrifies me to think that heaven is a place where 'nothing' happens- we have no trials to overcome, that our heavenly beings are already perfect and unadaptable. That maybe we will sit around and talk about life on Earth forever and hear one another's stories- interesting of course, but what to do once the last story is told? Well, all I can do is actively remind myself of Gods goodness and love. That we will worship Him forever because he is worthy of it. That maybe seasons will exist in Heaven, even if they are different from ours. And all I can do right now is live my life fully.

[truthheals]

I could have typed the exact thing you posted about 2 years ago. I found my permanent solution but it is literally the only one and it not only removed my fear but transformed it into my greatest joy. C.S. Lewis wrote a book where he explained that when you hunger for something, when you truly long and are starved for something you can have faith that what it is you have an appetite for must exist.
You my friend, have a real appetite to the question of eternity. I too have this appetite. I know your agnostic and probably don't take the bible very seriously but this verse changed my life.Its written in
Ecclesiastes which is a book that is a man without God's perspective on life. He comes to the conclusion that without God life is meaningless and it seems as though you agree with that as well. That with no Designer we therefore have no design and therefore have no purpose. Anyways this verse from that book opened me up to Jesus

:Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

You see man, We are finite beings with the concept of eternity in our hearts! No wonder people are losing there minds. The only thing that can suffice this is a relationship with the Designer. The only way to become related to the Creator is through Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ is God as a man, the image of God, The Son of God He can die in our place. Because His inheritance is the Kingdom of Heaven He can bestow it upon us if He dies. Well He did die and He never once strayed away from righteousness which made His death sinless and because He was crucified on behalf of a Jewish High Priest and Roman  Pontius Pilate His death was officially a sacrifice and a death penalty. He knew this would happen and in fact this was His reason for living a life here on Earth, that we might be saved . Because He was resurrected and still lives He also is in on the inheritance meaning that we not only get to go to heaven on behalf of His great act of Love, we get to spend eternity with Him. The only thing that satisfies my fear of eternity is spending it with the most loving yet powerful being in existence. He loves you man and He died for your sins and He set eternity in your heart that you would come running for a solution which is Him.  I know this is can seem crazy but what is crazy is to ignore it. My greatest hope is that you would call upon Jesus as your savior and see what the bible has to say about Him. I promise you that no other thing will give you peace brother. Jesus is the way The Life and The Truth and if you will call upon Him he will open your eyes, forgive you of any thought you have ever thought or any deed you have ever done because He bore your judgment at the cross and he did it because He loves with a love no one has yet to comprehend...

[truthheals]

The best way to cope with this is by placing friends or loved ones  with you in your vision of endlessness/idea of eternity. It is through experiencing this with other humans that makes this bearable.

Because I am a Christian my vision of eternity is not acceptable because of the splendors of Heaven that I expect; because I too see any place as terrifying if Ill be there eternally. What makes eternity not only bearable but now my greatest longing is that Jesus will be there. I know that can sound weird but Jesus is the only one who has ever showed true love and truly showed what humans were made to be like and the faith that I will be enduring eternity with Him is what truly brings me joy.

Never ending, eternal, infinite,
my greatest fears I will admit.
Being with yourself unchanged,
this can bring everyone pain.
But Christ, yes , He is Creator,
everlasting loving sustainer.
The day now is coming soon
where He shall make something new.
No pleasure at all can comfort infinity
Anything becomes torture when described never ending!
With Jesus alone do my fears run and hide
for He is the way, the Truth, The Life.
In Christ alone do I find peace.
His friendship alone satisfies eternity.

[BlackwingKakashi]

Hello everyone, I am actually currently 14. I know that sounds young, but I like to think myself very mature for my age, maybe i'm just arrogant. I was able to connect to a lot of the people posting, and just learning about what it is was incredible for me. I realised it probably did stem from when I was (more) little, when I felt disconnected, and I was in a bad place i wanted to escape, and I felt like it would last forever. I also think it's genetic, my mother had the same problem. I am more like my mother, and my sister is more like my dad. I've talked to my sister, she just says "i'll rot in the ground. so what?" I would give anything to think like that. I've started making a list of things to help me when the fear rears its ugly head. I also found it only happens when i am sad (such as at night, like many of you) or when i'm not distracted. It hasn't been a problem in a long time, but my best friend recently moved away, and that made it start up again, and I can't take my mind off it. Although since finding this forum, at least briefly I felt better, knowing we could at least suffer through eternity together, and other people feel the same way. I always see is as a couple possibilities. Blackness, your'e dead. While that is a solution for some, it never was for me, and terrified me all the more. Forever in heaven, boredom, you'll get bored eventually. Reincarnation didn't help either, because not having knowledge of my past, doesn't help me. I'm agnostic, leaning toward atheism. There's the whole thing about god taking away your ability to feel bored, and you'd be happy all the time, but even that wouldn't feel like a genuine existence, and scared me as much as everything else. Sometimes i think the only way to fight it is with itself. Like, the universe has to end EVENTUALLY is my thought, but then i think, there has to be SOMETHING there, so it's like infinity VS infinity. Anyway, when i'm in a good mood, I can just think "oh well, nothing i can do about it, life is beautiful, enjoy yourself" but as soon as my mood comes down, it pops up. This is the only thought i'd be content with forgetting forever, because it defeat the purpose of itself. Shortened, the best solution i can find is essentially YOLO, so enjoy yourself, but this prevents me from doing just that, i guess that's irony. I think just surrounding one's self with people they love, and distracting yourself is the best things to do, but I'd love to just find a permanent solution, just making the fear go away, or finding the answer (however unlikely that is) Thank you everyone for posting, i found it interesting reading all your own solutions and stories, keep it up, we're all in this together (this is the only forum ever i haven't seen a troll in, everyone just wants to help. Good luck to you all!

[NunyaBizzness]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely try it out and letcha know :)

[Mrmojorisin32]

Look up the Campaign for Philosophical Freedom.  You're now taking a glimpse through the "rabbit hole".

Beware though, once you go through this "transition".  The way you look at organized religion will never be the same.

Good luck to you-