2024-07-08 05:03:08
Simon put his reflections on life in the book “A Beginner’s Guide to Dying”. The book is scheduled to hit the shelves in October, and the author should be dead by then.
In an interview with BBC radio, the man explained what he realized before moving into the hospice:
“My pain is under control and I’m so happy – it sounds weird but I’ve never been so happy in my life.
I used to think I’d rather die suddenly, without any warning, but knowing the end was slowly approaching helped me prepare and accept the inevitable.
It’s actually a wonderful opportunity.
The book is called The Beginner’s Guide to Death, but I want to say that enjoying life to the fullest kind of prepares you for the afterlife.
In a way, I’ve been lucky that my life and career have taken me to many places where death is a more normal part of life than in the traditional Western world.
I have worked as a humanitarian aid worker all my life – I have worked a lot at the United Nations (UN) – and I have lived in places where death is not only in the background of everyday life, but is inescapable, constantly visible.
I headed the UN office in the Gaza Strip for three years. I spent a lot of time in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, worked in Ukraine. There I saw people for whom death is a part of everyday life – they lose their children, they don’t know if they will have anything to eat. It gave me a lot.
For the past four years I have also been a Samaritan (volunteer for the British Isles helpline, red. grazed). Sometimes I have been on the other end of the line when a person ends their life. That’s why I think death is more common to me than to many others.
We all benefit from thinking about death.
These are not pessimistic thoughts… Understanding that this is inevitable and a part of life really puts life into perspective and helps you enjoy it more and prioritize the important things.
My family is about to go through the hardest thing of their lives. My lovely wife Aurelia and my parents… I hope my good spirits as I leave this world may help them in the years to come…
Our lives are all little books – but they are not someone else’s book. You are a chapter, a page, or a footnote in someone else’s life, and they will continue to write wonderful chapters after you are gone.
These green sprouts can sprout around grief and provide a new perspective. I hope that people familiar with my story will take something from it.
You don’t need to be a politician or an activist in life – we all make a big difference.
I really like this quote from Middlemarch by George Eliot:
“Her effect on those around her has been incalculably large, for the growing prosperity of the world depends partly on unhistorical deeds, and the fact that you and I are not as bad as we might have been is partly thanks to those who faithfully lived invisible lives and rest in unvisited graves.” .”
Each of us makes a huge impact in our lives. Most travel movies show that one tiny detail has changed in the past and everything has changed in the present.
So, it can change a lot of things that happen in the future.
In a few years, all of our graves will be unvisited, almost all of our actions will be forgotten, but the smile you gave the cashier or the kind words you said to a stranger on the street can still point to a better future.
We all have this ability and it is a great power. I want everyone to understand how special and precious they are.
I like processed cheese. Unfortunately, since St. I couldn’t eat Christmas. Chemotherapy destroyed my taste buds and radiation destroyed my salivary glands.
So, unfortunately, processed cheese and all the dishes I used to love are no longer on the menu.
However, my oncologist and hospice team allowed me to enjoy both my favorite wine and cheese rolls. I will definitely take advantage of it and enjoy every moment I have with my family.
In a sense, I am looking forward to my last day – of course, this is the wrong attitude. But I’m a little curious about it, and I’m happy and ready.
As Juliana of Norwich (Medieval religious figure, hermit, red. grazed): “Everything will be fine, and everything will be fine, and everything will be fine.”
Simon Boas, from the island of Jersey in the English Channel, was due to move into a hospice on Thursday, where he will spend his final days surrounded by family.
When the BBC reporter called the man that morning, he was in good spirits.
2024-07-08 05:03:08