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10 Years

July 12th, 2008
By PETE ABEL, Managing Editor

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As Joe G. shared this morning, and as most of you probably know by now, Tony Snow has died. He was 53.

I’m 43. When Tony was my age, if he’d known he had 10 years left, would he have done anything differently? If I could look in to the future and know the date of my death, would I do anything differently? Would I work less, spend more time with my family? Would I stop getting up at 5 a.m. during the week to sneak in my 30-minute workout just so I can stop gaining weight at an exponential pace?

Would any of us change?

I know it’s terribly predictable to ask these questions when a relatively young man dies, and probably trite to ask them in print. But this is what I do when I read about death, especially death before the age of 70-plus. (When I’m 60, if I live that long, I’m sure the threshold will be 80-plus or more.)

So, fine. Maybe it’s predictable; maybe it’s trite. But in the end, I think it’s also healthy to ask these questions — if, for nothing else, than the impact they might have on the handful of people who might seriously consider them … and then stop … and then try to relax (a little) and laugh (a lot) more than they do now.



This entry was posted on Saturday, July 12th, 2008 at 6:46 am and is filed under An Appreciation. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 6 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    Pete, you cannot predict the future, and there's no need to second-guess what you're done in the past and even what you're doing now. Of course if you knew when you were going to die (or merely if you knew it would be much earlier than what's normal for the general population) that would affect your decision-making.

    As long as you don't do obviously harmful or risky things and get examined by a doctor periodically there's no need for worry.
    • ^
    • v
    I've heard it said that death is our only one true advisor. Without being morbid and depressed about it, a person could really clean up their life if they woke up each day and considered that it might be their last. Death can advise us which decisions to make and which ones are leading down the wrong path. From about age 23 on, all of us are dying anyway, so every adult should consider their time limited and act accordingly.

    Imagine a world where people were every day aware of death just at arm's reach? How different it would be.. In the old days a person really couldn't go one day, or certainly not one week without seeing a funeral or a corpse laying around. Maybe our fairy tale society where death is pushed back and kept out of site is what's wrong with our system? We often behave like sassy immortal beings and this is when the problems begin.

    People sometimes cry at funerals as much from the intrusion of their own finality into their thoughts as grief over the loss of their comrad. If they thought about it every day it wouldn't rattle them.

    Every single one of us will die. Most of us will die before we want to. With that in mind, let's decide how to live. Since we have to die anyway, why not do so with the great swelling pride that we lived each day to its fullest potential and in service, instead of crushing remorse having lived a life of utter waste or debauchery and self-serving, or one of timidity?

    Today is the day to begin acting, and acting well, instead of talking about it.
    • ^
    • v
    Unfortunately, there wasn't much Snow could have done in this case except try and treat his Ulcerative Colitis as well as possible and hoped for the best outcome.

    Having its sister disease Crohn's Disease, I know Colon Cancer could well lie in my future, and I'm prepared for the fight should it come.
    • ^
    • v
    Thousands, if not millions of people face shortened lives for various reasons.... diabetes, obesity, HIV, etc. Before we throw rocks at those people who have made poor choices (i.e. eating too much or engaging in risky behaviors which may have brought on such conditions) it would be useful to remind ourselves that we've all engaged in risky behaviors and for many of us we've been lucky to get through it. But it only takes one slip up and some bad luck for a person who is otherwise usually careful to be in a situation where they may die early because of one poor decision.... And then there are those who struggle with obesity or alcoholism or some other condition that they just can not seem to control.... Life and human nature is just too complicated to say, "As long as we take care of ourselves we should be fine." That's just superficially true....

    We're human after all and that means we're all imperfect....

    Pete's post serves as a very good reminder that we should all be grateful for our life we are living and instead of living for the moment, perhaps we should reflect and see if there is anything different we should be doing. My Mom, who is in her 80s feels her own mortality... She's in good health but still when you get to be that age the numbers are fast to catch up to you..... I can't imagine knowing (if I were my Mom) that I may only have 10 or 15 years left... So perhaps I should read up on the subject of how people faced with death (whether because they have cancer or are elderly) handle it....

    Thanks, Pete!
    • ^
    • v
    I myself died, clinically, and was brought back from death before. Thousands of people have experienced this. Once it happens to you, you realize how trite and meaningless most of life really is and it sets your priorities straight.

    There's a very interesting website or two that can help people understand death from this unique perspective. Here is one: http://www.nderf.org/

    In my own case I got a stern warning, I experienced graphic images of how I'd done wrong and what would happen to me if I continued.. and where I should instead be heading. Dreams since then have become more vivid and intense, and sometimes even weirdly prophetic. Although when I wake up I dismiss them as mental fabrications...it never seems to fail to jar me when they come true. *shudder*. It was an experience I'll never forget and it did change me for the better I think.

    Long story short, don't be afraid of dying. You should instead be very afraid of living incorrectly.
    • ^
    • v
    @silhouette
    I expect you know this, but your comments are very much in the spirit of the"Bushido Shoshinshu" - The Code of the Samurai":

    "One who is supposed to be a warrior considers it his foremost concern to keep death in mind at all times, every day and every night from the morning New Year's Day through the night of New Year's Eve. As long as you keep death in mind at all times, you will also fulfill the ways of loyalty and familial duty. You will also avoid myriad evils and calamities, you will be physically sound and healthy, and you will live a a long life. What is more, your character will improve and your virtue will grow."
 
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