Take Notice

My hometown paper had an article about Brigitte Gann, a woman suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS. She can no longer speak, but this is one of her written responses to the Question: What is your idea of mortality?

“We all think we will live forever and we plan our lives accordingly. If you ever watched the movie “Tuesdays with Morrie” or read the book, Morrie said, “When you know how to die, you learn how to live.” Nothing could be more true.

I have learned what is important and what is not. The truth is all any of us have is today. I have understood that truth for a very long time. My sister lost her life in the blink of an eye. My husband Jay and I both have faced our mortality more than once. Jay had a heart attack 12 years ago on April 9, 1999. He was bitten by a copperhead snake. He nearly bled to death following a routine sinus surgery. I was in a serious car accident at the age of 18. I was told I may have ovarian cancer in 2004 but thankfully did not. I had chest pain in 2006 and had to be rushed to the hospital and had two blockages requiring stents.

This diagnosis of ALS is cruel and heartless. But on the other hand, I have been given a gift: A gift of time to settle my affairs and shower love on all the people in my life. So many people do not get that gift of “notice”. My advice to everyone would be to make their own gift of notice by living today as though they had been diagnosed. Learn how to die so you can learn how to live … and do it while you can.”

A clear and convincing message, from someone who knows, really knows, the true value of life and of time.

Not many of us think about the issue of “notice”, of knowing in advance that we have a limit to our days. But the fact is we all do have a limit, and we know it right now. It is a fact that many people avoid, and yet there it is, in our future. Not yet blocking our path but instead patiently waiting somewhere down the road, just around one of the corners we may or may not see coming.

The reality is that there is no real need for a dire diagnosis … we know our days are numbered. And that is a good thing, taken from the viewpoint of eternal life. Until that final day comes, let’s not just mark time … take the time to live life, assure your affairs are always in order, shower love on the people in your life … and do it while we can.