Purgatory

Ever since I became self aware at 16, I've always this vision of how the afterlife would truly be if it were possible. And no, I call on no divine being to dream it up for us, nor is this even spiritual or religious (or emotional). The one thing that has been a problem with me for a long time is that my conscious and my subconscious - "conscience" if you will - are constantly at war. See, I do have a morality that was taught to me and that I learned, that through cooperation, we achieve 'x' times more progression than alone (x = how many people are involved). But I also know that I cannot live for the group, that I have to do things in my best interest, and my best interests, especially in the long term, are not that of the group's best interest. So that causes a short of riff between the waking me you see everyday and the other side that surfaces when my conscious mind is too busy or is "out". Anyway, on the afterlife.

I think that the thing that would cause this afterlife is nothing more than our own minds and imaginations. Using the first law of thermodynamics (matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed), I am inferring that consciousness cannot be destroyed, but changes into something else. To deal with this new change (and subsequent lack of a physical presence), it goes back to its life on Earth.
Basically, I think that, if you led a good and virtuous life, you will imagine up a paradise where all your friends and family live or what have you. Your mind will be "pure", as dictated by itself, and therefore you will want to reward yourself, as a result. Conversely, if you had a lot of regret and guilt over the things you did, you may enter a sort of nightmare world, filled with things to punish yourself with. Either way, you get the consequence you feel you deserved. I think I came to this conclusion after hearing "At least I can sleep at night" too many times. Could you ever do so much wrong as you deprive yourself of sleep or food, in some cases? Not consciously, but subconsciously, your body taking cues from your "conscience". I think it's a fair question and whether or not this is a possibility for the afterlife, I don't know.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think this up and maybe somewhere, there is an actual name for this idea, maybe it's in a book or something. But think about it.