What is your worst fear in life?

[Mytical]

I am not sure how my parents are dealing to be honest. They lost one son (watching him wither away to cancer), faced the prospect of losing me not to long ago (and me having cancer too). They are a lot stronger then I could be if I was them.

[Crescent Cat]

Becoming permanently injured or paralyzed - especially from the neck down - or having locked in syndrome. That is a fate worse than death and I would not want to live if it ever happened to me.

[Seenoevil]

Never experiencing love.

[Cazzi]

Losing both my sight & hearing.

[Amanita]

Becoming permanently injured or paralyzed - especially from the neck down - or having locked in syndrome. That is a fate worse than death and I would not want to live if it ever happened to me.

That's me right there. If I ever end up like that, the kindest thing anyone could do would be to take one of the swords out of my sword rack, and finish me off.

I likewise fear amputation- losing a hand would finish me. Currently, I don't think there's a prosthetic on earth that matches a real human hand, in terms of both looks and full function. And if such a thing does exist, it's a safe bet my insurance won't pay for it. Back in 1999, I broke the metacarpal bones of my left pinkie and ring finger, and the whole hand just curled up. It took months of physiotherapy to regain the use of it. I was miserable- there were a lot of things that I just couldn't do, no amount of improvising could get around it. And what sucked as much as the things I couldn't do were the things my parents wouldn't let me do. And that was only temporary, there's no way I would want that as a permanent state of affairs.

Now, please don't take this as an attack on the disabled- I don't look down on others, who have meaningful lives, handicap or no. But such loss of function would take away so much of what makes my life enjoyable, that I honestly wouldn't want what was left over.

[DeltaSierra]

My Mother dying before my Dad. Seriously - if Dad goes first, I know that my Mom is strong enough to carry on and live a full life with me and my Brother and my Brother's family. Dad, however, being an alcoholic, would drink himself to death within a month, and then I'd have lost both parents. I've even told my Mother this, and she agrees with me.

[Jester]

A couple people have commented on becoming disabled and crippled, and I have to admit, I do fear losing the use of my legs. Not because I fear not walking, or having to find a new line of work, since I imagine it would be close to impossible to tend bar from a wheelchair. That I could deal with, I believe. What I would have serious trouble dealing with, however, is not being able to ride a bike again. I've been on a bike in one way or another since I was about 5 or 6. I'm 42. I love my bikes. I love just about every bike I've ever had, even the crappy ones. And I've had a lot of really nice bikes. To have to give them up would absolutely devastate me. That is something I do fear.

Do I fear it more than the death of my loved ones? Oh, that's not even close--hell no I don't. But as far as something happening to me, yeah, that is probably my biggest fear.

[FuzzyKitten99]

Jester, they do have hand-bikes for those without use of their legs. Not as flashy and cool as a standard Schwinn but you would still be able to be mobile like that.

[Monica]

Dying. I think the whole process of it, what really happens, is most scary to me. So many unanswered questions.

[Jester]

Jester, they do have hand-bikes for those without use of their legs. Not as flashy and cool as a standard Schwinn but you would still be able to be mobile like that.

Oh, I'm well aware of them. And I would probably end up on one. Doesn't mean I wouldn't miss being on a regular bike though.

[dragon_wings]

Dying suddenly (like in a car crash or sudden illness).

[Misanthropical]

Something happening to either one or both of my boys. Loss of a spouse I think I could deal with. That will happen eventually anyway since he is 14 years older than I am. I am pretty good at dealing with death of those who are on the other half of their life spans, even those close to me. Death is a part of life and I have already dealt with it on a near-parental level.

But when it comes to my babies...I think I would not come back from that. I am NOT supposed to outlive my kids.

One never recovers from the loss of a child. I had a stillborn son when I was 8 months pregnant with him due to a doctor not listening or taking me serious that something was wrong. He would be 18 years old this year and I still break down in tears when I think about it. Don't even get me started on how messed up I get on what would have been his birthday. He was born the day after my little guy was born but years apart. His funeral was held on what is now my daughter's birthday, so yeah, my emotions are all over the place during that time.

I still haven't recovered from having to bury one of my own children. I would NOT be able to handle burying another one.