How do you deal with the idea of death.

As some of you might know from a thread I created in the OT forum, I've became an atheist lately. And one thing that greatly depresses me is that there is nothing after death, the idea itself makes me want to cry, and there is still a small feeling that what if hell exist? From my childhood I've believed that hell existed, so it is hard to shake away that idea even though I do not believe that hell does exist. I had a dream a few days ago, that I was told I had only a few hours left to live, and I kept thinking, was I wrong? If I was I might be spending all of eterninty burning, and if I am right, I cannont imagine the state of which I am not alive, not able to think, not able to feel, not able to do what I enjoy, and not be able to talk to people anymore. Even after I was awake, that feeling of fear did not leave me. So it would be nice to have the opinions of you guys on the topic of death, And sorry if my post was messy, or if this topic has already been done before.Lonelynight

WERE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!

I prefer to see it like this:

Atheism gives you means to deal with hard topics, since as a realist, you can take comfort or seek solice in death. A Christian depiction of death does differ hugely depending on which Christian you ask. Other religions have their own odd views on death. Which one is right, and why should it matter? What should matter is how you live you life, not you wondering unpleasant things about something un-knowable.

For me, atheism has helped me deal with the death of others and be self-reliant in coming to terms with adverse situations. It gives me the vision to think about realistic worst-case scenareos and gives me choice of positive actions in overcoming bad news. I find this outlook far more reassuring than hoping and praying, or having faith that something external will change.

I perceive being dead like before birth. I have no memory of the times before I was alive, so think I will stop funtioning as an independent thinking being when I die. I may "live on" in the memories or actions of some others for a while - a nice thought. I find my void notion of death far more appealing then any notion of "being" in eternity - either heaven or hell.

I'm sorry I missed your OT topic. Thanks for finding this union!

As cheesy as it may sound, I deal with the idea of death by doing my best to live every second of my life to the fullest. I actually like the premise of there being nothing after life, it makes me feel as if my life is that much more meaningful instead of just being some sort of pointless test where as long as I follow a bunch of arbitrary rules everything else I do is meaningless. 

And on hell, to me it's futile to worry about it, because in my mind it is just as likely for every God-loving Christian to end up in hell as it is for me and all my unbelieving peers, because no one has a clue as to what makes someone deserve eternal damnation and what makes someone deserve eternal salvation.