Over the past twenty six years of my life I’ve become well acquainted with a vicious and cruel executioner. Its name is cancer. My family has a long running relationship with this monster. When I was six I watched my 36 year old uncle have the majority of his stomach removed due to esophagus cancer. After his the surgery and chemotherapy he looked worst than a prisoner in Auschwitz. Since my uncle’s demise, cancer has claimed three aunts and most recently took my sister.
My sister was a beautiful woman with dark hair and infectious laugh. She was the oldest of my parents’ children and she had a strong rebellious streak typical of first children. For better or worse she did things her way and people loved her for it. To watch this beautiful, independent spitfire be reduced to a bald, sickly, and pain riddled wreck was an unspeakable hardship for my entire family.
Two years has passed since the departure of my sister, giving me time to reflect and search for meaning. The most comforting thought that I have surmised is that all of us will die. No matter what pain we suffer there will be an end. To mentally embrace this unavoidable fate and even celebrate it, frees us to experience life while we have it.
There is no need to clutch and worry about what the future will hold because we already know that death will ultimately be the future. Living then can be a state of freedom in which we can experience every moment for what it is. No matter how painful or joyous a moment is, it is temporary so the sting of living is removed.
Living is a state of mind. We can spend our time being full of fear, resentment, sorrow, or anger. Or we could choose to forgive those that have wronged us and live with contentment. Frankly death is going to happen either way; the only difference is how life will be experienced.
I’m not telling you to give up; I am telling you to accept. Do the best that you can with your life. Live with wild abandonment! But always embrace that life is a series momentary experiences that will ebb and flow with time. We don’t know how long our life will be. We don’t know if we will be taken by cancer or by a bus. Nor do we have the assurance of good health. We can not predict the circumstances of our own existence. All we can do is just live.
It’s time to stop feeling mired in self pity. Just take a good look around you and realize that all is temporary. Allow this knowledge to be your peace. It is certain that decay will claim our bodies, our pets, our children, the planets, the sun, the stars, and all other forms of matter. Just as all things are born they will also die. Death is beautiful because it connects us all. We all need to rejoice and embrace our commonality.
Author's Bio
I am a seeker of knowledge that is open to what life gives me.
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