Last year I had serious pneumonia and as it got worse I was aware that I might die. In fact initially the docs thought it was a pulmonary embolism and for several months afterwards they were suspecting lung cancer, so I was presented with several scary scenarios.
It was all a bit surreal but I was remarkably calm through it all! I am a christian and felt complete peace. The main thing was that I knew it was much worse for my family than it was for me! My MIL had died suddenly about 3 weeks before I went into hospital so death was very real and the family was still in the shocked first grief. It was only afterwards that I freaked out a bit and thought through what it would have meant to the kids and my dh if I had died.
So no, I'm not scared of death but I certainly don't want to die for a long time yet! I want my kids to have me in their lives for as long as possible. My health is a bit dodgy and esp. since the pneumonia I'm aware that I could die early. I've been a christian for a long time and I've learned how to trust God in big things and little things, so that makes a huge difference to how I see death, and life, and everything really.
I think it's in human nature to want to live and to be healthy, and death does go against everything we want. My minister at church says that even for christians, death is still an awful thing, and grief is an awful thing too. I've been so affected by the stories in the news over the last few weeks involving children being killed/murdered. That is an unbelievably awful crime, to take someone's life. The only way I think you can stay sane in this dark world is to have faith, and trust that Gos is there and He really does have the whole world in his hands even if it doesn't always feel like it. Sorry to bang the christian drum (again) but this is a religion thread!