Fear

I've been considering fear today. I think that most people would say that they were most afraid of death. While I believe that this is a great fear, I don't believe that it is the most universal fear that we as people face. I think that the fear of loss drives us on a more day to day basis, and is actually the more fundamental fear. Fear of death is at its base nothing more than the fear of the loss of life and those things that make life important. Incidentally, this is why some people choose to commit suicide, as they don't see any value in life, and any feeling of loss is outweighed by their distorted sense of gain.

When we are losing a loved one in a long drawn-out ordeal, we are much more likely to fear their loss and it is likely to be very potent, much more than if we were to lose someone dear to us suddenly. When we have lost, there are coping mechanisms built into the human psyche that come into play, but while we are in a state of limbo, we know we are going to lose but haven't lost yet, those coping mechanisms can't begin to operate, and the fear of loss festers and can grow into depression.

We can fear the loss of a loved one, a job and thus a lifestyle, the loss of a pet, a valuable, time, really anything, and it is all the same fear. The fear of being diminished.