 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
David Harcourt
Administrator
| Joined: | 12 Jul 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1083 |
|
Posted: 10 Aug 2009 10:40 pm |
|
A friend who is about 70 [see note below) called in yesterday. He has been having a lot of heart trouble, and some problem which means that he has the use of about 30% of his right arm (and he is right-handed). He is desperately keen to travel to China to complete a contract there but his medical condition is such that he's allowed a maximum of two hours on a plane. A journey to and from China will therefore be extremely expensive and take many times longer than more direct flights would do.
This is very frustrating for him, and he is striving to improve his health so he will be permitted to make the trip. What sustains him is his wonderful sense of humour and passion for life. (He says it is because he's Irish. If so, that would explain much that has happened in human history.) What depresses him, however, is the behaviour of many friends of his age, and younger, who have "retired", and who live for television. Many, he says, waving his left arm in disgust, "have a sleep in the afternoon".
Afterwards I thought about what he said, and realised that there are in fact many indicators that someone has given up on life. Here are some that occurred to me:
* "Retirement" is the first and most obvious of these. Based on what many of my customers tell me, to retire is to commit suicide, more or less slowly.
* The most extreme manifestation of "retirement" is, of course, internment in a "retirement home" or "rest village". These places might as well have signs over the entrance reading:
Next stop: THE GRAVE
* Reading the obituary notices in the daily newspaper. (People apparently believe that they read these to see whose funeral they ought to be attending. This is nonsense. They read them to see who they have outlived. Every time someone younger than them dies, their heart fills with joy. See Muriel Spark's Memento Mori for the definitive account of this phenomenon.)
* Abandoning reading as an activity.
* Abandoning thinking as an activity.
* Abandoning conversation as an activity.
* Abandoning friendships.
* Ceasing to believe in the possibility of love.
A NOTE for those reading this who are thinking that 70 is incredibly old and that therefore maybe my friend should turn his face to the wall and pass quietly away. You, too, will be 70 one day. When you get there you will find that every day is as rich and as precious as it was when you were 20. More so, even.
To live, or not to live, that is the question...Attached Image (viewed 49 times):
|
David Harcourt
Administrator
| Joined: | 12 Jul 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 1083 |
|
Posted: 10 Aug 2009 11:02 pm |
|
So if I start doing any of these things, or even contemplate doing them, it's time to put a bullet in my head. I can do it, or maybe one of you could do it for me. If you do, thanks in advance for your kindness and consideration.
It seems to me that what makes life worth living is being of assistance to other people, whether it be one's children, other members of one's family, or more or less complete strangers. But it's hard to see how you can be of use to anyone else if you retire from life, cease to meet with and talk to people, live for the sake of television, and go to sleep during the day.
Given the choice implicit in the above, I choose life.
What do you choose?
Not a sunset. A sunrise:
Attached Image (viewed 47 times):
|
Current time is 06:39 am |
|
|
|
|
|
