You are cured of an incurable disease, or was saved from mere moments from death; a doctor checks up on you, and casually states that you have a thousand years left to live: how would you react to that?

Another one of my story plots involving a girl who was saved from death from an incurable disease, and the self-proclaimed doctor who saved her life, by giving her an elixir that cured her, and claimed that her life has extended to a thousand years. This is when the heroine, who believed there was no hope of living a normal life, should respond to this sudden development, which I don't know the best way to describe it. So how would you guys feel, when you're in the heroine's situation?

________________

How realistic do you want us to get? Are we going to die from other things or do we have guaranteed 1000 years? If you still need to eat to live then you kinds have to work for a long time to get enough saved to retire and live the rest of your years. If you don't need to eat or anything I'd probably stop working or looking for work and read for 100 years and learn so many languages. It would be awesome. After that who knows.

Basically living the way you usually do, but with a thousand years to add to it. Dying from natural causes is a given, but it depends on how you live your life, or just throw it away when it's too much to bear.
But what emotions will you feel? Will you feel dumbfounded? Distraught? Or perhaps delighted?

________________

So, I'll still grow old Right?
I'd just kill myself at around 80...

But, if I was that heroine, or was in her position, yeah, I'd be happy..
Very happy, I guess..

________________
Tournament Round 1
Round 2

I think it would take time to settle in.. you can't really have a sudden reaction to it.. it would be like.. "oh.. ok.. cool.. i am just happy i got to live more.."
But that's just me, i think it depends person to person... their idea of life and all..
But considering your princess lived a sickly life and probably wanted to enjoy all the glitters of it.. she would probably be delighted.. maybe not thinking much about the thousand years.. but just the mere fact that she gets another chance at life.

Annoyed that I would have to work for even longer T_T

Her life expectancy is extended? Cool beans. Is she still mortal? If so, she can still die before she reaches 1000(+her age), right? If yes again, then I don't see how living a "normal" life is impossible. I mean for all we know, we could live up to 1000.

Just like the average person would as they're growing up.
As children, we're told that humans can live up to 100 years. Not all of us reach that age, but in the back of our minds, that number stays there. In a way, it sort of excites us. 100 years sounds like a long time, let alone 1000.
To us back then, living a "normal" life doesn't even cross our minds. What is a "normal life" to an "infant"? It's just something you can't easily comprehend. Even to an adult, it would seem like infinity. So we relax. We spend our days wasting time, thinking that there's still more...

Just because you're expected to live a thousand years more, doesn't change the fact that you're still gonna live every day like you already do. People only change their way of living when their time is shortened, not lengthened.

________________

Everyday I'm tumblin'

I'm already hoping I don't live beyond 80 what with failing organs, senses, weakening body, etc that everyone gets at that age...adding a thousand more?

But thats because our life expectancy is at around 70-80 - as in our bodies are expected to get to its worst state by that age.
The scenario is that the character's life expectancy is extended by another 1000 years, meaning that by the time she's 80, she'll still be pretty healthy since she'll be akin to a toddler.

________________

Everyday I'm tumblin'

I wouldn't want to be a toddler that long though.... o-o

Maybe like, grow up normally for the first 18 years as a typical human would, but then from 20 to 30 years old (as seen in a typical human), stretch the aging process of those ten years to the next 20 to 950 years (as someone who dies at 1k years old) I guess... And then eventually die of old age once you reach 950.

I hope this makes sense... (probably not )

________________

You start off as a young teenager, then get treated with a life extension, then living life while aging til your final decades should narrow the field.

So much details to cover, I'm baffled with how to explain the plot.



________________

Within a period of ten years, I've witnessed society go from "Wow, you have a cell phone?" to "Wow, you don't have a cell phone?"


Imagine a thousand years, especially if there's a human that exists who's shown the science world that it's possible for a human body to maintain itself for fifteen lifetimes.


Also, what would she do for a living? Be a test subject? Simply be famous as a freak? Do normal retirement laws apply to her, or does she have to work for 900 years?

I wouldn't believe naturally, because there's no way of telling how long I live. If I were to live for that long however, I'd probably feel a lot of grief if I were the only person to live that long. All people I love would have died, I would probably avoid people altogether because of that. Would my memory work or deteriorate? Could be I'd be alive for the last 800 years without even realizing it.

I meant health-wise.

________________

Everyday I'm tumblin'

You know, with all the really good questions and really obvious ones that are mentioned, it made me remember that I originally asked people that how will you react to this situation, not how you plan to deal with it.

In the heroine's case, I imagine that when the doctor says this line:

Doctor: "Your chart lists the following diagnostics: Your illness has been cleaned from your system: Your metabolism has recovered to its normal state; your life expectancy has increased fifteen fold; Your fine motor skills are in peak condition; your gross motor skills however, seems to be lacking. No surprise there; and other than your slow thought process, that you are currently exhibiting, while taking in all the information, everything checks off a clean bill of health. Any questions?"

Heroine: ".....................
................................What?"

Of course, this is how I wish the heroine to react. But as for how she would deal with this change, she'll want to find a way to live her life as a normal human, with a normal lifespan.

This question is asked based on the real world perspective. Living a thousand years sounds like a fantasy, so my story takes place in a modern fantasy world, with alchemy involved. So it's no surprise it would go in that direction.
But there is another question I want to ask, relating to this Topic, but maybe I should save it for the next topic, since I got enough to answer my question.


________________