Actually, eternal life (in the normal sense of the term) does not at all imply eternal consciousness. Eternal life merely implies an infinite amount of time in which one is conscious. Unending consciousness is not something people were made for: we wouldn't be able to take the stress. That's what sleep is for: it allows us to slip into oblivion, away from all the cares and troubles of the world. I certainly would not have been able to live this far without an easy, normal respite from the sorrows of life.