Does Everyone Have A Time?

[I Love Tomorrow]

Do you think that everyone has a specific time of when they are born and when they will die, not at all, a combo of both, or something else?

Being from a religious upbringing, I used to think for a long time that everything had it's time and place, including birth and death. You hear from some people say things like, "It wasn't their time yet" when they survive a near death experience. Or, if they don't survive then it's "Looks like God called them home". When I was younger, it seemed that death was hard to deal with but at the same time made more sense. What I mean for example is my grandparents could have died at any time in many different ways logically, but how and when they passed just felt 'right' at the time, I don't know how else to describe it. Even my uncle who passed from suicide at 25 even though it was horrible, there was this strange 'meant to be' feeling about it and it made me who I am today.

When talking about suicide however, it's never assumed that 'it was there time' because there is always a certain amount of choice involved compared to I guess what would be considered dying natural death or from an unforeseen accident. It's assumed that, "If they just held on longer, if they just tried harder, if they just did this, then they would still be here today." putting all the blame on the person for not doing more. And I personally think that's not always true.

Hollywood has played this scenario many times; In a show I like to watch called 'Dead Like Me', the reapers are supposed to 'take' someone's soul based on a post it note they receive that has the name of the person, place, and estimated time of death. And sometimes this even includes suicides. In the movie 'Groundhogs Day' which I'm sure many of you have seen, there's a scene where Bill Murray's character can't save this elderly, homeless man from dying no matter how many times he tries, and the movie just explains it as 'sometimes people just die'. And when it comes to birth, I feel that sometimes birthdates are meant to be, while other times that they are just random.

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle on this subject, or a combo of both feelings. Sometimes I feel I can change 'fate' by what I do, and sometimes I can't no matter what. And when I can't, it makes me feel like nothing more than a puppet on a string being controlled by either a grand puppet master or uncontrollable circumstances. So what do you think, do we have 'a time', or not, or how do you feel and why? Thanks for reading

 

[Ziggy]

People like the idea of having special dates which are pre-determined. Whether it be the end of the world, the return of a religious leader, the arrival of an alien spaceship these dates are calculated and fail to materialise. It's about attaching significance to these events, and in a similar way I think our births and deaths are important and special but I doubt it's linked to a specific date in any way.

However I do agree that our lives are heavily fated, due to our dna, early childhood experiences, levels of opportunity etc. and we don't have as much control over our lives as a lot of people would like to believe.

 

[LonelyHiker]

Certainly everyone has a time, because everyone is going to die. But it isn't a "preordained" time. People just die when they die. There's no rhyme or reason....it is absolutely random. It's the very reason that one should live each day as if it were their last...

 

[Lekatt]

I believe that birth into this physical is a choice, and that means we choose the time we will be born. No one forces us to be born, we can stay in the spiritual world where we were created forever if we want. But most of us are very curious and adventurous. We just must try this physical school of spiritual growth.

I am told by spirit that we also chose the time of our departure from the physical. When we feel the time is right the method will present itself. I know this is hard to believe in some instances, and I don't understand it either. But I do know that from the spiritual advantage our lives here are not as scary as they seem to be at times.

 

[Ziggy]

When we feel the time is right the method will present itself

People need to be very careful not to confuse this with 'when the method presents itself we feel that the time is right'.

 

[I Love Tomorrow]

I like all of these responses and I believe this is not an easy question.

People like the idea of having special dates which are pre-determined

I'd have to agree with this I guess. Many people do like feeling they're maybe more important than they actually are, or try and make sense of something that we really can't with the limited information we have here(myself included). Nowadays I believe more in uncontrollable circumstances than some kind of puppet master who may be controlling things, because I think there's more evidence for it. I still am hard wired to find meaning in the dark, maybe it's something I just can't help.

But it isn't a "preordained" time. People just die when they die. There's no rhyme or reason

Well my logical side screams that this is true, still, I've seen some mighty strange coincidences in my life that make me wonder. Agreed, everyday should be lived like it might be my last... within reason. I say 'within reason' because, does that mean that I should live super reckless and not plan or prepare for the future at all? No, I think I need a balance there to a point. But when dealing with people, I would always say live like it's the last time you may be talking to them, because you never know.

and that means we choose the time we will be born

That's interesting. I love the time of year I was born(August) and I don't know if I chose it, but it just feels right to me.

that we also chose the time of our departure from the physical

Well, I would have to say that would depend on the person and circumstances. Some people(many of us here) are ready to go now and have been for a long time, with the exception of taking our own lives. And then others go kicking and screaming to not deal with their own demise, so to each is own. Some babies die at one day old and some other's die in unexpected accidents or in a war, so I'm not sure how much choice they had.

 

[I Love Tomorrow]

Something else that also messes with my mind, and if anyone can relate or understand please let me know.

My sister is alive today because a man died in a motorcycle accident and was an organ donor, so she got his pancreas and kidney. It's just the thought that this person died so that my sister could live. Was it this man's 'time'? Would my sister have just gotten a kidney and pancreas from someone else anyway? I don't know.

I've also lived a pretty reckless life when I was younger; there was much I see it as I probably shouldn't have(and didn't want to) survived, yet I'm still here, knocking on suicides door constantly. But why, is there a rhyme or reason for this? I also look at it like this; so if our lives are completely random, and it doesn't really matter when we're born or die, than why live life at all? Because the whole thing would be meaningless, do you know what I mean? And although that could be true, something in my logic says over and over again that would be extremely stupid, wasteful, and really horrible, like some kind of torture for no reason.

I don't know. There's no proof. Maybe some answers aren't for mortals. And somehow I have to live with that

 

[KM76710]

It is something I have considered at times. There were a number of times I am surprised I survived some things especially one where the odds were three against me when I came to the aid of someone in distress. I don't know if it is fate or luck, but I take it as when my number is finally up then I will willingly and happily move to the next place and who knows maybe another time where I may be able to help another needing it.

 

[Ziggy]

I'm not suicidal, I don't want to die but I don't want to live. Several people really close to me ended their own lives, often I envy them, but in the end I don't follow them as they all failed on their first attempts. If I had an on/off button I'd switch myself off in an instant, but I don't like pain. No animal does, I choose to live in the same way a cat chooses to live. For any question I compare myself to other animals, if I have a time to live and a time to die, then do cats, dogs and trees? I don't think so, I just think we exist because we do and even trees try and improve the environments in which they live.