Do you ever watch those documentaries about the universe? How do you respond to the fact that the universe is infinite and that there may even be infinitely many other universes? The thought of the infinity of things and for many people is a fearful realization. Especially if you are just learning about things that can be infinite, this can scare you.
In this blog, I discuss how to deal with the fear of infinity.
Not only does the universe seem to be infinite, but life after death is also considered infinite in many religions. Forever in heaven (or hell) really does mean eternity. Hundreds, thousands of years.
Because we are human and like to know where we came from and where we are going, these kinds of life topics, death and the universe, are something we may think about at night in bed. One person dreams away pleasantly about the possibility of benign aliens. The other person gets anxiety, breathing problems and then has trouble falling asleep.
If you recognize yourself in this you can read on.
Infinity and faith
There are several religions that say something about infinite life after death. These include Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Either you enter heaven forever, or you go to hell forever. Or purgatory should you be Catholic.
Depending on the kind of life you lead, the relationships you have, this can make you very happy or very anxious. After all, burning in hell for an eternity because you have made a mess of your earthly life is obviously no fun either.
By now most people think it will be no big deal, but of course if you have done some really bad things then it is exciting.
Yet people also don't always get joy from spending eternity in heaven with friends and family. For example, sometimes the bonds aren't as good as you'd like, then to be stuck with them for another eternity...no thanks.
Then you also have beliefs that go right for the reincarnation option. Eventually, then, you can end up back in a kind of eternal heaven, Valhalla or Nirvana. This can be relieving at first, because you can start over every time and improve your life again.
Only then, if you are that kind of person who also watches those documentaries about the universe, you also know that the earth does not last forever. The universe then is infinite, but the earth is not.
So by this time, that reincarnation may also end or a new habitable planet must have been found. In short, infinity still has a few drawbacks if you philosophize on it.
Infinity and the universe
To continue, then you also have the infinity of the universe. This again is related to the infinity of time, but I'm not the natural scientist here. So who's to say how it really works?
Anyway, there are many theories about how infinite the universe is, and even that there are multiple universes. It gets dizzying when you think about it.
That dizziness is actually already a signal of fear. This fear of the infinite is actually, again, fear of the unknown. This fear is almost the same fear as the fear of holes and the fear of water.
After all, you can't imagine what infinity is. We all grow up with a beginning and end to everything. People die, animals die. A game has a beginning and an end with a winner and losers. You work and you retire. Infinity is actually not in our culture.
In addition, infinity is also something much bigger than ourselves. As they say in those documentaries. The earth is just a grain of sand in the universe. That means you are even less than that.
So the fear of infinity can also mean that you actually have a fear of how insignificant you are in the big picture. At least that's what you might think then. Socrates, a philosopher from ancient Greek times, also said that we are but dust in the wind.
What to do about fear of the infinite
Ultimately, these are topics we don't deal with in our daily lives, except if you work at NASA. Therefore, it does not affect your life. Therefore, instead of looking at problems, if this is even a problem for you, that you can't do anything about, it is important to look at problems that you can do something about.
You can then say to yourself, for example, "There's nothing I can do about this, so I'm going to work on X."
When do you start thinking about infinity and get scared?
First, consider for yourself when you start thinking about the infinite and getting scared of it. Is this when you are alone a lot, such as during vacations, or is this mostly before you go to sleep?
Can you also talk to other people about infinity and not get scared, or does it make no difference?
You can keep a journal for this purpose. In this book, you keep track of what you were doing, who you were with and how you reacted to the thought of infinity. In this way you can discover a pattern which allows you to consciously break this pattern.
Use mindfulness to calm down
Are you working on something and suddenly find yourself thinking about infinity? Then you can use mindfulness to make sure your attention goes back to what you are working on. You then focus your attention on the input you get from your senses. The feel of your hands and what they touch, the temperature, what you see, the wind, the smells and sounds around you.
By also actively engaging in something, such as walking the dog or cleaning the house, you make it even easier for yourself to shift your focus.
You are relevant though
The fear of being unimportant in the grand scheme of things can also cause that unpleasant feeling. What good is my life now if everything just goes on regardless of whether I am there or not? Then consider that very small things can already change other people's lives.
On websites such as postsecret.com, you can find out that the smallest moments in someone's life cause them to improve their life. You too can cause such a small moment, even if it's just greeting someone on the street.
A hypnotist can help you figure out your beliefs about why you would be irrelevant and can then change them. This can be done, for example, with hypnotic suggestions that are about your importance. You can then repeat these at home during self-hypnosis, such as:
I am important to my family.
I help my friends.
I am a link in the big picture.
A social life is a life of more important things
Experiences of people who suffer from the fear of the infinite also show that social distractions, meeting up with friends, going to school or work, helps to suffer less from this fear. You then end up having problems a little closer to you, such as doing homework or working overtime, which does require you to focus your attention on more practical problems.
Finding it difficult to connect with your colleagues or classmates? Then too, a hypnotist can help you with this. For example, you will be given practical tips on how to connect and you can practice this mentally with guided visualizations. This makes it easier to perform these actions in real life for more contact.
Having a social life, even if only because you are working or going to school, automatically puts problems in your path that you need to solve. Think of preparing a presentation or creating a paper. As a result, you simply don't have the time to think about anything else.
Help other people
The fear of infinity is often related to the fear of leading an irrelevant life. By helping other people, whether voluntarily or not, you ensure that you are relevant to at least 1 person.
You can already create a kind of butterfly effect with this. Just think of Rosa Parks who didn't want to sit in the back of the bus. Ultimately, that led to Barack Obama being able to become president of the United States. She probably never could have predicted that either.
Life is a party
If you hate to think about everyone just going on whether you are there or not then think about life in the following way. Life is like a party. You come to the party and you have a great time and meet all kinds of nice and interesting people. Some people leave early and you leave at some point. That is unfortunate, but the party goes on fortunately for the other people.
Want to learn more about mental techniques to reduce anxiety? Then come to a Hypnosis Institute Netherlands event. View the agenda and sign up.
