My mind just gets stuck and I panic when I try to figure out the concept of eternity, regardless of where you might or might not exist after death. This is the hardest fear for me to explain to anyone, and I wonder if there is anyone else who has ever felt this way. I get such overwhelming anxiety about this that it even wakes me up at night with a panic attack of rushing waves of fear and nausea. I've had this fear ever since I was a child, and I was brought up with a faith in a compassionate God so it's not because I don't believe that happy eternal life is a strong possibility. But even that terrifies me. How long is FOREVER? It's impossible for anyone to answer, so I just try to stop the thought and use relaxation and self-talk. That works fine while I'm awake, but I can't seem to stop the thoughts from getting in and causing panic while I'm sleeping. Tonight, for example, I went to sleep three times and each time just as I was dozing off the thoughts took control and I woke up in sick waves of fear. I had to get out of bed and here I am at 2:00 am.

Hi Bluewaters,
I'm so sorry that you are finding it disturbing rather than encouraging when you consider the concept of forever or eternity. I would like to discuss this with you. But first, if you don't mind, are you thinking forever on earth or in heaven? Forever dead or all of these concepts? I know you wrote it doesn't matter which, but your fear is there for a reason because somewhere, even if in your sub-conscience, you learned of the concept and percieved it as a threat to your well being which is resulting in your panic attacks. It's as if you can't fathom "time" in terms of being endless. Yes, endless like the universe. Perhaps you can explain a little further. Or if you don't wish to here, I understand because it can be very private. I think I can help you if you wish to personally E-mail me. I helped a loved one who had a similar concern. I give you my word that I will scripturally try to help you.

Well Meaning With Empathy.
Regards,
Victoria

Yes Bluewaters - Victoria can help you with this as she has helped me with this also.

As a child I remember getting a thought about "Eternal life" and I remember looking up at the wall and all I could picture was a black and white spiral - forever and ever and ever and ever. Holy moly!! Scared the crap out of me!

Since this is in the Spirituality folder I guess I can go on to share a little more of what came of that. About 20 years later I began having panic attacks and following my first very dibilitating attack which hospitalized me for four days in the cardiac unit, I attended a church with my mom. I cried uncontrollably the entire time. All I could say to my mom was "I'm afraid of Heaven. I'm afraid to live forever." Spiral image came to mind.

It still sort of freaks me out because ultimately we don't know any answers (other than Biblical answers) and it certainly is not worth risking our health over since we will never know until we are there.

Shawn - rambling today.

I get that same feeling when I think about the universe having no limits. It goes on forever and ever. Yikes!

The thing that has helped me when I have had thoughts like that is to consider that God made my brain and my mind, and to realize that my mind is limited. I cant figure all these things out....God designed it that way. Also the scripture that says, "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the wonderful things God has in store for those who love Him. We cannot even comprehend some of these things, as hard as we may try.

Hi Bluewaters and Leslie Anne,
Thank you Shawn.

It is interesting that some people have a fear (phobia) regarding eternity, forever, or as a loved one of mine called it, "time." Yes, it's endless like the universe that is endless. And for some odd reason this is a hard concept for some to understand and thus it produces an uneasy feeling and in the worst scenerio, panic attacks to the point of affecting ones feelings about God, religion, etc.

The Lord is King forever and ever . . ." --Psalm 10:16 KJ, NI, LB, RS
"Jehovah is King to time indefinite, even forever." Ps. 10:16 NW

Do you think that "time" could really go on forever? There is no doubt that time stretches forever into the past. So, what about the future?
What does the scripture above mean?

To understand this lets think about space Is there any limit to it? Galileo developed the telescope which provided an elarged view of the heavens. By this means the stars could be seen as well as the earth and other planets that revolve around the sun. The Milky Way now proved to be a galaxy of stars, about a hundred billion in number. Later, astronomers located billions of galaxies which stretch out endlessly into space, as far as the most powerful telescope can probe. Thus it seems as if there are no limits to space. Likewise, this is true with "eternity -- it has no limits.

The reason why some people have difficulty with eternity is because the idea of eternity is beyond the understanding of our limited human brains. What I just wrote is very important for getting past the fear and panic attacks. It's okay to accept that as an imperfect human you don't understand "eternity," "forever," or "time."
Your not odd, it does not affect you relationship with God when you do your best/his will within your circumstances.

God fully understands time and eternity past and present because he is the Creator of the boundless quadrillions of stars in their billions of galaxies!

"Raise your eyes high up and see. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing. Have you not come to know or have you not heard? Jehovah, the Creator of the extremeties of the earth, is a God to time indefinite. He does not tire out or grow weary. There is no searching out of his understanding." Ps. 29:10; 19:1; Isaiah 45:18.

God the Creator is the former of the earth, its maker. He is the source of wisdom which is far more extensive than mortal human brains can fathom. See 1 Corinthians 1:19, 20; 3:19.

The heavenly bodies are part of God's creation. "Everything [God] has made pretty in its time, Even time indefinite he has put in their heart, that mankind may never find out the work that the ture God has made from the start to the finish." --Ecclesiastes 3:11

Please look at the above scripture again. A person generally does not want to die under normal circumstances. Example: A person who has a heart attack will grab their medication in an attempt to save their life. Within our heart is the desire to live free of anxiety, physical and emotional pain.--Rev. 21:3, 4 If you were truly content with your life you would not mind living under ideal circumstances for a very long time providing it would be a life free of bordom or an problems. And as that scripture brings out, "mankind may never find out the work that the ture God has made from start to finish." In other words, you may never fully understand even under the most ideal circumstances, God's creation
although you can understand his qualities. --Romans 1:20

To get past the fear one needs to accept that it's okay not to fully understand eternity. One needs to train their mind to replace the fear that is a result of faulty reasoning which is in the sub-conscience. The sub-conscience (the mind) takes in information regardless of its being true or not. For example: You can be a very attractive person. But if, while you were raised, you were often told you are ugly you may actually come to believe it although it's not true. That's why some people have eating disorders. They took in information believing they are fat although they starved themselves below 100 lbs. The same applies to being told you are stupied often enough although you may have a high IQ. Our brain takes in even false information. So, if for some reason your not understanding eternity has caused you to have uncontrolable fears, then you need to reprogram your mind with truthful information.

So, now you know that it's not possible to fully comprehend the concept of time or eternity because of your imperfect human brain. You know from the scriptures that that's okay. You can now use the skills from the MW center to write out the positive things regarding eternity. For example: "It's okay if I don't understand eternity, its normal. Eternity is really wonderful when I make the best of my life which I'm working on. Eternity is a blessing."

Next, you want to aquire factual information about eternity. Where will I gain eternity? Tell yourself, "I have a marvelous life prospect without anxiety and depression." See John 17:3 that shows you what you can do to gain this hope. See eternity as "hope," as a "blessing," as something "wonderful." See also 1 Timothy 6:19 and Ephesians 3:11.

It is important for me to remind you that if your fear is deep rooted I understand that looking up the scriptures and even reading this might produce an uneasy feeling or a panic attack. Therefore, use the skills from the MW course on panic attacks and your relaxsation tape to deal with this (if you have the course). At the same time view this as a child that looks under the bed and inside the closet and finds out that there is no boggy man after all. There is nothing to fear or become upset about concerning eternity. The word and related words cannot hurt you. They are just words! Words with a wonderful meaning.

Do you love Jesus Christ or see the need to learn to love him? Think in terms of his giving his life for us (the ransom sacrifice) so that we may gain life. One needs to work on divine education and faith in his ransom.

Here's a scripture with much meaning to you. Education also never ends because we can progressively be instructed in the wisdom of our Creator. "O the depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are!" --Romans 11:33 The wisdom of God has no limits!

The Hebrew term, adh, denotes unlimited future time, everlastingness, and eternity.

You can be comforted in view of terrible world conditions knowing that the earth will not be destroyed. "It will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever." --Ps. 104:5

Accurate knowledge will help you view eternity as something for your good. As something that provides hope. As something that is a blessing and gift for your following God's wonderful requirements that make for better living now.

From the scriptures you can come to understand that death is a condition and that one does not suffer when they die. --Eccl. 9:5, 10. From the scriptures you can learn that some good people go to heaven (Rev. 20:5) and some will live on this earth under better conditions.--Ps. 37:10, 11. And that either way, that will mean an end to anxiety and a beginning of a life without boredom or suffering.

If you choose to look up the scriptures cited use the Bible translation that you have or like the most. I have only touched on explaining eternity or time from the numerous scriptures on this topic. You may have questions or comments which I welcome. If you want additonal help you may E-mail me. Or we can simply discuss it here on the forum.

I want you to know that I understand what you are going thru and its is with empathy that I respond. I know I got lengthy in this reply. But in view of the nature of the fear there isn't a short cut to dealing with it from a knowledgable stand point.

Sincerely,
Victoria

Thank you for this post, Victoria. It really helped to put my mind at ease.

Myself, I think I fear oblivion more than eternity. I was raised Catholic but, as I grew older, I shed religion. I guess in the back of my mind it was always there, but I never really prayed and I never thought about it.

With the onset of anxiety, my greatest fear is of physical death. My heart wants to believe, but my mind jumps in and causes me to analyze and question the beliefs I was raised with and this ends in fear and anxiety. It's the core of my problem and, until I address my faith, I don't think I'll find peace.

Reading your reply helped me along on this road that I've started down so very recently....Thank you!

quote:

Originally posted by Victoria:
[qb]Hi Bluewaters and Leslie Anne,
Thank you Shawn.

It is interesting that some people have a fear (phobia) regarding eternity, forever, or as a loved one of mine called it, "time." Yes, it's endless like the universe that is endless. And for some odd reason this is a hard concept for some to understand and thus it produces an uneasy feeling and in the worst scenerio, panic attacks to the point of affecting ones feelings about God, religion, etc.

...

Sincerely,
Victoria[/qb]

Thank you, Victoria. I still am very panicked when I start reading things about the concept, so I have only breezed through your reply so far. I am also hesitant to email anyone (even someone as knowledgeable and compassionate as you certainly must be), so for now I must hide with my anonymity and study the information you've provided bit by bit. Again, THANK YOU to everyone who has responded on this topic so far. I have truly never found anyone with this fear before, because the only person I've ever really tried to explain it to has been my spouse, who does not have any problems with anxiety. I have recently purchased the program (I'm up to lesson 6), and the techniques in Lessons 2 and 3 are keeping my panic well under control during the day. But I don't expect to conquer the night terrors until I work through a lot more stuff. I'll make a great effort to study what you've already written, and anything else you want to post here, Victoria, and maybe one day I'll be confident enough to email you personally.

In a nutshell, you stated the your mind gets stuck thinking about the concept of eternity and you become frightened.

Your thoughts are making you anxious and eventually panicky. For you it is eternity, for me it was rainbows, full moons and clowns, amongst others. You should hear the other scary thoughts the other people in my support group have. The one thing is common is that they are all thoughts.

The beauty of this is that your thoughts are within your control. When you wake up with anxious thoughts, acknowledge them as just that; thoughts. See this as a practice opportunity or growth spurt. After all you couldn't get really good at this mind control stuff if you didn't get a chance to practice. I noticed that when I prayed to God for complete recovery, I'd get several anxious episodes that day. He was serving me up some great opportunities to practice. For a month or so, I didn't see it this way.

Embrace your thoughts, the good and bad ones- they are your creation. Then simply let the bad ones go. Joyce Meyer's book, "Battlefield of the Mind", explains this topic as does Bronwyn Fox's, "Power over Panic."

I know this is hard at first. You have taken a great first step in your recovery by becoming knowledgable about your disorder by going through Lucinda's program. The second step is becoming completely, 100% devoted to becoming healed. Yes, it is hard, but recovery is well worth it. It will allow you to fully savor the miracle of life that God has given all of us.

The relaxation tape is critical to listen to in the beginning. It gives your mind a good workout (learning to relax and think nothing was a definite workout for me), allowing you to become stronger and better suited to letting those thoughts go.

Remember, they are only your thoughts. Don't play with them, ignore or run from them. Acknowledge them and let the bad ones go.

If you are devoted to your recovery, you will get better. May God bless you and your recovery.

Bobby Z
Proud recovered graduate of the Midwest Center

i remember lying on the ground and looking up into the deep blue sky and thought about the depth of the sky and thought overwhelmed me - like being in water with no bottom under you - it must have made an impression anyway that was some 35 yrs or so ago - when i think of eternity i turn it into a concept i can understand and relate to better - i look at it as always today - a little easiar to grasp than forever with no end - I hope this helps - pray to God and be honest with him about your feelings. Eternal salvation is through the gift of Jesus Christ who paid for our sins - we couldn't earn it so he gave it to us who believe and trust in this gift.
"I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the father but by me" except a man be born again he can not inherit eternal life