Stupid question of the day...

[lourdesmont]

Why hasn't anyone written a manual on how to live before dying?

I ain't worried about the dying part - I probably won't even be aware of anything at that point. Just give me oxygen and drugs and let me go.

But this living until dying thing ... Holy Crap!

Someone needs to write the friggin' Manual!

Comments

[musiquephan]

I can only share with you what I've experienced with my mom.

She doesn't dwell on the dying, at least not outwardly(we all die eventually)...she did briefly, stating dying from cancer is a crappy way to go--however, she was quick to interject, "But they have good drugs for that and you don't feel anything."

And we talk about it frankly--the realists that we are--not brushing it under the table or pretending it will never happen...but we don't dwell on it either and instead, "be." "Being in the present" is something many of us could learn to do anyway. We multitask to the point of disfunctionality, worry about a future for which we have no control, and regret a past we cannot change. It is nice to "be" for a change. Family and friends first (everyone else can piss off).

In the mean time, she takes full joy in what she loves--she's all about a QUALITY of life, not quantity.

She laughs, bitches about my dad, eats her favorite foods, and smokes like a chimney. She relishes in the antics and snuggles of her cats. She still loves to shop, do her nails and get her hair done. She watches NASCAR religously, even when she doesn't feel good. She is still moving forward re-decorating her house...and enjoys a twisted satisfaction that my aunt and I will have to go through all of her "crap" and "do something with it all" when she's gone.

And even though she's been feeling poorly and moored to the couch for the last several weeks, she still views it all as a big pain in the ass and huge inconvenience. In between times when she's feeling half decent, she's back to doing her thing.

In the words of my mother, "That's all I know."

Hugs you muchly, girlfriend!!