I have been where you are. Constantly gauging the aging people around me, anecdotally trying to gain evidence as to what makes the longer-lived live longer. U

I have been where you are. Constantly gauging the aging people around me, anecdotally trying to gain evidence as to what makes the longer-lived live longer. Understand a few things: 1. It's natural to fear death 2. Fear is a motivator to protect us 3. We can't protect ourselves from the inevitable 4. Everyone who lives will experience death Because of these three things, we can start to understand that our anxiety about death, while well-intentioned, can become irrational. We convince ourselves that we have the power to prevent death, because we have the power to prevent or treat many diseases. In this way, death is treated as unnatural. We see death as the end of consciousness, and we fear it because of our instinct. I, like AnimalMuppet and others on this thread, am a religious person (Christian with some extensively explored views on deism, Calvanism, etc). This gives me a sense of hope, that consciousness and being have meaning beyond my seemingly short life. Our brains are tricky things. We convince ourselves of non-truths often. Understanding that our brains are not our "selves", that indeed we can view the brain as a part of the whole, we can begin to externalize the strange occurrences in our brains and study them more objectively. This objective study of the mind helps us separate our "self" from the body altogether. For me, this is my true identity and spirit, that feel altogether out of place in a frail body. Consider meditation. Certainly get exercise; it will help you become healthier, and reduce anxiety (proven in study after study). Accept inevitabilities, and focus on the moment you are in now. If you would like to talk more about faith and religion, I and I'm certain others on this thread would be happy to discuss it with you!