This year it is particularly important for me to reflect on this idea, or at least it feels that way. When your job is seeing the wreckage of every possible thing that can go wrong with the human body, it’s easy to get a skewed sense of what’s normal with regards to health.
On a personal level add in the inevitable entropy that comes with age and things can start to get a little dicey. I have actually recently started to think about “getting things in order” for the big send-off. Mind you, I haven’t actually done anything yet – but the whole thing is starting to seem less and less abstract.
Even though it sounds morbid, I actually think it’s probably healthy to think about one’s death in a very real, concrete way. Most of us live in such denial about what’s coming – I’m not sure if the denial is good or not – sometimes it’s true that ignorance is bliss – but I know that for me, at this moment in time, it’s important to face the inevitable. It’s not realistic to think that you will just keep getting chances to start off down some exciting path after each health set-back. Pain will eventually wear you down and make you disengage.
So with that happy note, I’d like to take a moment to be grateful. Grateful to have had the run I’ve had, and grateful for maybe a bit more time to keep living and be engaged with life.
Grateful for the 35 year relationship I’ve had with my wife, and grateful that I didn’t die a painful death from cancer 8 years ago. Grateful for my friends and my job, which pays me for the privilege of helping other people.
One moment at a time folks. It’s all we’ve really got anyway.