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.
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.
Yes…
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….
His words so moved me too Lori.
Beautiful story…..
Be present. Live for now. We are all moving towards death after all. Such is life.
Yes Val. Such “is” life.
tears but what a beautiful realization and peace.
yes. exactly that Beth. You could feel it in his words.
to be that… yes.
If only to be that, it is a large ask…
Much wisdom in this post.
One who lives his life with charity, forgiveness and mercy has not a worry.
-Alan
That is Truth Alan. It is.
Words to live by, worth reading and taking note.
They are Deborah. They are.