Confronting Mortality
One of Doreen’s friends from the Yale Club of Houston recently passed away from breast cancer. She was 49. A good friend of ours had a stroke almost three months ago and she is still in the hospital. She is 49. A couple of years ago a friend had to have triple heart bypass surgery. He was 49 at the time.
Once you hit 49, you can’t pretend that you are not “middle age” Middle of what? I have no real indication that I will live to be 98 years old. With my height (6’6”) I would guess I will be lucky to see 80, and I will trust that to my genes. “Late middle age” I am not sure what to call it.
My father lived to be 88, yet both of his brothers died in their 40s. My mother died in her 40s.
I wonder what life would be like if you knew when your due date was? Would you work more or less? Would you take more vacations, read more books, see more movies? Would you try and do more good in the world earlier, or would you use the time hedonistically?
I don’t know the answer to those questions. But as Warren Zevon told my brother Matthew after a show one night:
“Life is short. Enjoy every sandwich.”
Once you hit 49, you can’t pretend that you are not “middle age” Middle of what? I have no real indication that I will live to be 98 years old. With my height (6’6”) I would guess I will be lucky to see 80, and I will trust that to my genes. “Late middle age” I am not sure what to call it.
My father lived to be 88, yet both of his brothers died in their 40s. My mother died in her 40s.
I wonder what life would be like if you knew when your due date was? Would you work more or less? Would you take more vacations, read more books, see more movies? Would you try and do more good in the world earlier, or would you use the time hedonistically?
I don’t know the answer to those questions. But as Warren Zevon told my brother Matthew after a show one night:
“Life is short. Enjoy every sandwich.”
posted by Dan Piette at 11:52 AM
1 Comments:
Few of my favorite words "Confronting Mortality"…
Don’t waste your time arguing with the simple: "When you argue with a fool, chances are he is doing just the same"
"all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.
"Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for."
Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.
Popular opinion is the greatest lie in the world.
"The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end."
"When a thing is done, it's done. Don't look back. Look forward to your next objective."
You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.
Personal fav…
"Do what you love, love what you do, leave the world a better place and don't pick your nose.”
Dan, look back... reflect... and enjoy the whole ride ;-) CH
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