quadbliss
Distinguished member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2006
- Messages
- 395
- Reason
- PALS
- Diagnosis
- 07/1998
- Country
- US
- State
- California
- City
- Benicia
Even the word death makes some people uncomfortable, but I have always accepted it as a very natural part of every life on this planet… until it came knocking on my door. When I was first diagnosed with ALS, death looked me square in the eye, and it was terrifying. When I finally learned to calmly accept it, death became my companion and has been ever since. This may sound morbid, but it is actually the main component to my passion for life. We are all mortal. Any one of us could die before we lay our head on the pillow tonight. I have been lucky enough to receive the opportunity to really comprehend this information, and the time to use it.
I feel the fleeting nature of life, and this allows me to fully enjoy everything around me and every experience. My disease has limited the activities I can participate in, but it seems worth it. The many things I can still experience and learn about, are so much more fulfilling and meaningful. I seem to have the perspective to understand my position in the universe, and from this position I look out in awe.
There is also the ability to live fully in the present. This means allowing myself to explore depths of emotion that I had suppressed in the past. I would have been afraid to go there. Having unlocked those gates, I realize that I was missing a crucial connection to humanity; true empathy. To feel the joy and pain of others is to break down the walls of arrogance, prejudice, and ignorance that have led to man’s ugliest moments. Allowing these emotions to flow, feels natural and somehow cleansing. I feel more alive.
For me, death has been an invaluable teacher who has shown me the secrets of true happiness. I don’t know if I would have ever really understood these concepts had I not been forced to view my own mortality.
I feel the fleeting nature of life, and this allows me to fully enjoy everything around me and every experience. My disease has limited the activities I can participate in, but it seems worth it. The many things I can still experience and learn about, are so much more fulfilling and meaningful. I seem to have the perspective to understand my position in the universe, and from this position I look out in awe.
There is also the ability to live fully in the present. This means allowing myself to explore depths of emotion that I had suppressed in the past. I would have been afraid to go there. Having unlocked those gates, I realize that I was missing a crucial connection to humanity; true empathy. To feel the joy and pain of others is to break down the walls of arrogance, prejudice, and ignorance that have led to man’s ugliest moments. Allowing these emotions to flow, feels natural and somehow cleansing. I feel more alive.
For me, death has been an invaluable teacher who has shown me the secrets of true happiness. I don’t know if I would have ever really understood these concepts had I not been forced to view my own mortality.