Your Dying Thoughts?

November 7, 2009 6:12 AM

What do you want your dying thoughts to be? Does it really matter what you do with your life, or is there something more? Take your great grandfather for example. Do you know what he did? Was there a lasting legacy that affected you? Chances are you don't know what your great grandfather did with his life and he had little effect on you. I first thought about this and thought that I wanted to be accomplished with what I have done with my life, but I do not know anymore. I feel that accomplishments and material things mean less and less. I felt I wanted to be satisfied, but with what that stems back to what I have done.
posted by 7eleven to religion & philosophy (10 comments total)

"What do you want your dying thoughts to be?"

My dying thought.... "I'm amazed that I've lived to be 150 years old and can still spend an evening drinking fine wine, eating wonderful food, and make love to these three beautiful, young, women and not feel the worse for it.!"
posted by HuronBob at 6:20 AM on November 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

I would like my last thought to be: "I wonder what this button does?"
posted by phunniemee at 6:23 AM on November 7

Chances are you don't know what your great grandfather did with his life and he had little effect on you.

My great-grandfather met and married my Gaelic-only-speaking great-grandmother at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, had my grandfather, and promptly died. No way that had little effect on me, whether I know the details of his life or not. It made my grandfather who he was, which made my father who he was, which made me who I was, which makes my kids who they are. All with myriad and sundry other influences thrown into the mix of course, but "you know where it ends yo usually depends on where you start."
posted by headnsouth at 6:23 AM on November 7

Now, go read this.
posted by HuronBob at 6:23 AM on November 7

I first thought about this and thought that I wanted to be accomplished with what I have done with my life AskMetaFilter question, but I do not know anymore.

Chatfilter to the extreme. Incidentally, my great-grandfather helped build the Roosevelt dam, and he and his wife took in over a dozen foster children, some of whom have sought out contact with our family in the years after his death. I'll be sure to tell my kids if I have any.
posted by hermitosis at 6:26 AM on November 7

I knew my great grandparents on my mother's side. Until you brought it up, I did not even think a lick about how they influenced me. I do know that they were bordering on poor, but were very active in the community donating a lot of time to local causes. A lot. My great grandfather was a funny guy. Had a lot of those corny jokes you imagine a great grandfather would have. "Eat peanut butter and jelly for a 10 years and you will live long" type jokes. Great for a young boy of 5 or 6. Both lived into their mid 90's. It occurred to me that my grandparents were very active in the community (my grandfather was the local town justice) and my mother is active. So am I. I do not think that would have happened had I not seen the example. So, my great grandgparents influenced thousands(?) by helping others and setting their family up to help others who in turn did the same thing.

Are they going to write a book about the Gunn family? NOT!!! But, it is written that a whole long line of Gunn's have done right by others and themselves. The one thing you own that you cannot buy back once you lose it is your good name. That comes from character. Your reputation is what others think about you. Your character is who you are. Worry about your character.

So I hope my dying thoughts are etched in everyone's minds well before I die. I just want everyone to know that I did my best and tried to help. As for my actual dying thoughts, I hope I am aware that I am about to die. I just want to think to myself, "Self, fuck, you about to die."
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:29 AM on November 7

I suspect my dying thoughts will be interrupted by the constant flow of incoming ThoughtMessages™ and VR PopUp Ads™.

Major chatfilter.
posted by JaredSeth at 6:29 AM on November 7

Chatfilter to the extreme.

Flagged. My great-grandfather was a pig farmer in Italy, who cares?
posted by fixedgear at 6:30 AM on November 7

Did I just put a fork in the microwa---
posted by at the crossroads at 6:35 AM on November 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

I might be projecting a bit, but I think there's a valid question here concerning personal legacy, which I've also been thinking about lately. We live and die, maybe pass on our genes and language and culture descendants, but what of our personal selves do we pass on? What makes a good legacy? Writings, drawings, something that lets others know what our lives were about. Some piece of work that we put something of ourselves into.

Diaries, writings, sketches. I guess that would be my answer.
posted by DarkForest at 6:43 AM on November 7