Inspiration is taking the week off. (I think she went skiing at Lake Tahoe with Hope.) Instead, I’ve got two stories of people surviving for unusual reasons. If they’re too quirky for you, come back in a couple of weeks. I’ve got some very inspiring stories in the pipeline.
Reasons to live are not always pretty. It’s not always about “seeing my granddaughter graduate” or “helping save the rainforest.” Some reasons are more like Jan’s, a 60 year old woman with bone cancer I took care of in San Francisco’s Mount Zion Hospital. I remember she wore jewelry and makeup and applied them every day. Even in a hospital bed with dressings on her legs and IVs in her arms, she managed to look good.
Great story! I laughed my tuchus off! I’ve heard of this before — being angry enough to take care of yourself, but not written out so nicely.
“Do not go gentle into that dark night….”, there’s something to be said for that. Am reminded of stories and anecdotes I’ve come across through the years about people who’s work or accomplishments I admire. Many of these idols are exposed as being somewhere on the spectrum between “difficult” and “Pit Bull”. Consequently, I no longer expect saintliness or Job-like humility from my role models (although it WOULD be nice), but rather have concluded that, given the effects of Murphy’s Law, The Peter Principal, and plain entropy, it may take a Pit Bull to accomplish anything. Or, in some cases, just survive. Life is unfair and death is inevitable – best to meet both head-on.
If revenge is the reason to survive, then be vengeful! Some thing redeeming, like this blog, will come along.
My mean old grandfather died at 99 years old. Outlived all my other grandparents. His motivation? The smartest one lives longest. He lived to prove he was smarter than everyone else. Didn’t make for great relationships, but he certainly got a lot of mileage out of it. At 92 he eloped to Vegas with his home care worker. She gave him seven more years. Smart.
A lie has no legs.