Paul Kalanithi, MD, was a Stanford neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with lung cancer in his mid-30s. Here’s an excerpt:
[…] Everyone succumbs to finitude. I suspect I am not the only one who reaches this pluperfect state. Most ambitions are either achieved or abandoned; either way, they belong to the past. The future, instead of the ladder toward the goals of life, flattens out into a perpetual present. Money, status, all the vanities the preacher of Ecclesiastes described, hold so little interest: a chasing after wind, indeed. […]
That message is simple: When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.
~ Paul Kalanithi, Stanford University neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, died on March 9, 2015 at the age of 37
Don’t miss the entire article in the Washington Post: Before I Go: A Stanford neurosurgeon’s parting wisdom about life and time
Thank you Elizabeth.
Live & Learn 
Life is precious. His story is a wonderful reminder to be present and not to watch the time, but rather embrace each moment fully. We never know when it might change.
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Yes…
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Among life’s greatest challenges, I think, to live in the here and now, to appreciate the little things, to revel in simple moments. This piece touches my heart in many ways….
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His words so moved me too Lori.
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Beautiful story…..
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Be present. Live for now. We are all moving towards death after all. Such is life.
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Yes Val. Such “is” life.
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tears but what a beautiful realization and peace.
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yes. exactly that Beth. You could feel it in his words.
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to be that… yes.
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If only to be that, it is a large ask…
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Much wisdom in this post.
One who lives his life with charity, forgiveness and mercy has not a worry.
-Alan
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That is Truth Alan. It is.
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Words to live by, worth reading and taking note.
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They are Deborah. They are.
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