Thought on illness and Dying

Christopher R 11/23/10
1A
Illness and Dying Thoughts
I think someone dying is something people are always overreacting to. One of the only things that is promised in this world is the day you will die. I think what really makes people afraid does not know when it is going to happen and because of this you can’t say goodbye to anyone. Also in the United States many people are afraid that the way they will be killed is by homicide because on the news there are always cases about people being murdered. If you think that your last minutes on earth will be the most physically is what scares people the most. However I think that knowing you’re going to die makes what you do on earth a lot more meaningful and depending on the different views a person has such as religion, dying could be a good thing.

A lot of people in the world believe in Christianity and in the Christian religion when someone dies they might go to hell depending on the sins that they have committed on earth. Others who are faithful to God and follow by the religion go to heaven. However I’ve never met one person to come back from being dead and say exactly what happens and because of what people am told dying is something to fear. It’s seen as a point of no return, there is no way to be with the people who you loved on earth. If dying is really a place where you have to be by yourself not able to see anyone you love or know it becomes something people want to avoid. I think when someone gets sick and is near death you start to feel for them more because while you are able to stay on the earth with friends and family they have to ‘’die and go off to near return’’.

What I have been taught about death, is when someone dies you have a funeral to remember all of the things that person did on earth and it’s a time for the friends and family to come together to reminisce. A lot of people tend to cry at funerals again because this person will never return to them but I see a funeral as a celebration. It isn’t a joyous celebration but it’s a time to take a step back from reality and think about the person and celebrate the life that they lived opposed to the live that they are no longer going to be living. I think what I’ve been taught about death is probably the norm for people who live in the United States, such as flowers at the funeral, wearing all black to show that you are mourning someone and a casket that is going to be the final resting bed. But on to Illness, I don’t think that illness is too far from dying. Being dead however is something different but many people who are ill have a chance of dying. When someone is ill people tend to classify them in the same category as someone who is dying.

When you are dying people picture the person to be unable to help themself. They are in a state where that person’s body is not at one hundred percent and they are usually seen as weak, and hopeless. This is also how people who are ill are depicted. It’s almost like illness is a step before dying. If you become progressingly ill than your considered dying.

I don’t know what would be a way of dealing with sickness and dying. The ways that are shown in the media are usually the ways that people tend to handle this in real life. If someone is sick or dying, usually they are in a hospital or have someone taking care of them, and when they die they have a funeral or they are cremated.