I have been suffering constant anxiety and panic attacks about the idea of living for eternity. The idea of time just going on and on with no end ever in sight is terrifying to me. I want to just try to enjoy my life, but I can't sleep at night and this thought of eternity just keeps filling my head to the point where I can't think of anything else. Has anyone else felt like this and is there any hope for me?! Or am I a case where eternity is horrifying to me and thus I will suffer forever?!

Hi Justine,

Welcome to this site!

I'm not sure how you got here ( to this life, not this site  if you haven't already been living 'forever.' Your soul is immortal--front and back, coming and going 

Maybe there's something about this planet and its lessons that has upset you.  However, we aren't here forever, you know. Our souls go to many different planets/environments to learn many aspects of consciousness and energy use (our own, God's, etc, not public utilities.)

Since this is your first post I'm not sure how to answer you-- you can see I'm having trouble explaining myself. It would be easier to talk with you if we knew abit about you-- have you ever read Bruce Moen's work (this site's host), or about near death experiences (NDEs) of thousands of people who are so excited by what they visited in the afterlife?

We are fortunate to live in an age of communication where there is so much information available. Please click on the free articles listed above and get involved in learning about the afterlife. What you learn you will not fear.

Bets

I agree, it can be terrifying to imagine my life would go on and on and on. But I think I have figured out why that is so.

  It is when we don't consider change. The noun "life" can suggest to us "one and the same thing", and when this is extended endlessly it has something scary with it. But, in reality this isn't so.

  You once couldn't write and read, how different that was! And earlier, you were a baby, and couldn't even understand language! And in the future it will be similar, different stages of being. It may be, here in the physical, when we get older, some of us start to rust and aren't that flexible. But physical death is like birth, it's a huge change. And in the afterlife, who knows what miraculous metamorphoseis we will go through. In this view, nothing stays forever. Except our memories, maybe, but even those will be seen in different light, depending on where and what we are in the moment.

Spooky

Hi Justine,

Have you ever been involved in some activity you really enjoyed, that was so engaging, so much fun that hours had passed by but it seemed like only minutes? This is what you are talking about. Why lose sleep over that?

Don't you think it would be better to focus on identifying and increasing the attitudes and activities that make time seem to "stand still" while here on Earth? You would then become a master of time instead of the other way around. I think your anxiety would disappear if in this way you could use your life to create "eternity" here within your present, instead of worrying what it might be like where you are not present.

It seems like all the worry and anxiety is creating something quite boring, and that usually feels like an unendurable eternity. It is the boredom that is doing this. Are you bored? You are not alone. Everything becomes boring after a while. It is how we deal with it that changes the perception of time.

As far as living for eternity - it is not going to happen. Everything that lives eventually has to die, so make the best of it. From one point of view, life is actually quite short.

- u

JustineS, Many people look at the afterlife as a continuation of life as how it is on this planet, using time here as their reference point. The whole"everlasting life" thing, just isn't. Once you die and move on over to where you believe you are to be, it is unlikely that you will be watching your watch. A second there could be 10000 years on earth, or visa versa. I think people also relate their experiences here on earth to what will be the norm over there. Your unlikely to have the same experiences as you have them here. Life on earth can be tedious. Health issues of your own or of others that you love can cause issue. Money, work, and love. Lack of, or wrong type for instance. Many people say they don't want to come back and do "living" again. Now what about if when you die that you are filled with the most loving feelings, the most contented that you ever can be. More happy than you ever have been, more love than you ever thought possible...Then would everlasting existence be so bad? There will be an end to this life, as you now live it. Of that there is little doubt. Perhaps your thoughts about the subject of "living for eternity" is the  asking of yourself to find a proper direction because of the possibility of the shortness of time available for the lessons you need to learn, this round of your physical life experience. You will choose existence or no existence. No God, or anything else will impose everlasting life upon you. It just doesn't work that way. Even those that think that they will stand before their God and he(or She) will decide whats, what, or if they have been good enough to have an everlasting life, will learn that it is only up to them. No judge or jury to decide for them. I promise you this...once you do die and leave this existence, you will most likely desire to come back as soon as possible. As I said, only you will decide. Enjoy your lessons of this life. Enjoy the giving and the receiving of love. (And your time spent here looking around.)
Joe