[EDITOR'S NOTE: Coming Next..."Why Can't We Just Get Along?" TRUTH about Democrats, Republicans and Independents]
"Sometimes we behave as though there was something more important than life. But what?"To Antoine de Saint-Exupery, I answer: the quality!
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Medical technology has advanced to such a stage that folks who would have long departed the Earth are now living way beyond their years. Often, they are doing so in states of unconsciousness (=unawareness) that we would not wish on our worst enemy.
The question of quality vs. quantity of life arose, when I recently read this very sad piece about a son struggling with the diminished state of his elderly mother after surgery:
http://nymag.com/news/features/parent-health-care-2012-5/
What is especially poignant about this piece is that there was a choice that could have been made, much earlier... when the mother was fully conscious (=aware) and could have played a more active role in her life and death decision.
The choice to live by having surgery to extend life, or possibly dying without it, is a tough one.
Ultimately, though, the question really boils down to this: Can we fully reconcile that ONE day we will have to die?
Most of us want to delay facing up to the fact that we're not here for all time and for all times.
[This piece inserted on May 30, 2012, in memory of 22-year-old Marina Keegan who died in a car crash, days after her graduation from Yale. I didn't know her but was touched by this piece...and her SPIRIT, so full of potential! R.I.P Marina Keegan: the world was a better place with you in it! Marina Keegan's "Opposite of Loneliness"]
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Whether or not we want to face death, we know its presence is looming, whether tomorrow or two, three or four decades from now.
But...we all want to live forever.
We don't know where death is going to take us, so we don't want to go!
We don't know what's going to happen, so we don't want to go!
Those are the simple truths.
The harder truth we must face is whether we want to delay our inevitable demise by
using medical technology to do so.
The thing is...we want to feel something!
We want to know that we KNOW!
So, when does life end?
Does life end when we no longer know what we know?
Or, is it when the sun or moon no longer makes an impression on us, because we're
in such a fog that we can no longer differentiate between night and day?
What truly IS life?
If we believe that life is only about being physically agile, then we need only look around *at all the disabled people in our midst and know that this is NOT TRUTH!
Is life then not all about the quality we put into it ourselves?Are we finished with the journey of LIVING when we're born into the world in a seemingly perfect mental and physical state? Of course not!
Babies, fully equipped with all mental and physical capabilities, join us in LIFE to participate in the business of LIVING every day, without knowing anything about where they are going or why they are here.
Through the process of growth and evolution, they make some discoveries of why they are here and what they are supposed to do during that time.
Anything can happen during the opening and closing chapters. Lots of things do, but we're able to fully hang on, with all mental and physical tools intact.
That's what seems to be troubling many people approaching that time.Do we live it out, or do we end it before it ends US?
The answer to this all depends on whether we're talking about a terminal illness or diseases and impairments associated with old-age! Or even about those in a vegetative state i.e. when all cognitive functions seem to have ceased from within.
If the decision is about the latter two, then we have real choices to make... and that's where the going gets tough for most of us!
Few seem to want to face up to getting old and/or dying. Fewer still seem to want to decide whether we would want medical technology to keep us going until we run out of technology or oxygen, or whether we take a hard look at what life truly means to us and make a decision!
We've got to DECIDE what life means to us!
I see the base dwindling if we were to face hard facts:
Many folks without kids--as much as they've been called selfish--should not have a major struggle with a decision about prolonging life: They want to GO!
They are realistic to know that they are on their own and there isn't much point in lingering around: Scrap the technology!
That last part is what causes a lot of trouble: "they can take care of me in my old age."
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| Though resting, both camel and man seem vitally ALIVE! |
Who, or what, are they caring for in old age: the shell representing the image they once knew?
Difficult as the decision may be, folks need to start facing TRUTH while they are still conscious enough to know what they know. They need to be very clear in their instructions, too!
The critical questions that need to be addressed: If we can't tap into our Soul, the guide for all that we do here on Earth, what are we still doing here? If we can't feel the impulse of our Soul for all we're doing here on Earth, then what are we still doing here?
The answer to the question: "To live or Not to Live" then becomes a Soul thing!
Namaste',
Che'
*NOTE: This post is strictly about decisions that afflict those advancing in years and/or who have entered into a vegetative state..
EDITOR'S Note: This weekend as we celebrate those Americans who lost their lives on behalf of our country, keep close your memories of what you consider "your life." Scroll through your old pictures, as I did once I'd completed this post, and enjoy you! I was delighted that even those times I considered not the best periods of my life, I still saw many happy memories! Happy Memorial Day!
[With this post, I am CELEBRATING what I believe to be the completion of my "Journey of 1,000 Miles" back into my Soul! I began this quest in 1988. I hope you enjoy the photos of me below. These images represent ALL of "WHO" I think I am!]
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| Taken about 5 years ago...(2007) |
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| Taken about 2 years ago...(9/2010) |
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| Sept. 10, 2010 (Pescadero, CA) |
1 comment:
Thanks, Maduke, for sharing your experience on this very sensitive topic. Your mother tried to live her truth by stating her wishes. Indeed, as you concluded, the only good that may have accomplished is that it brought all the kids together...Divine Order? Mother's LOVE? We can believe that there always is a reason...purpose...though it's not obvious to us. IF your mother's felt her primary purpose was to keep her kids "connected," then we can see that her SOUL had the "final word" before she departed.
Namaste',
Che'
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