4 ms·

I'm of two minds on this approach. On the one hand, it seems like it would do a good job of toughening a person to the degree that they can cope with more suffe

by majos 9y ago

I'm of two minds on this approach. On the one hand, it seems like it would do a good job of toughening a person to the degree that they can cope with more suffering. On the other hand, the belief that life is suffering to be coped with seems somewhat self-fulfilling, and I find it hard to believe that happy moments are as effective if they're perceived in the omnipresent shadow of death. (I say this having adopted some of these views and found myself at a lower baseline happiness, but also with less variance.)

ctdonath 9y ago
Old aphorism: "there's a certain freedom in being completely screwed - it just can't get any worse." Likewise death: when you've faced the prospect of death, of coming to grips with it, and survived it & now knowing you're on borrowed time, all things become a gift. I am literally hearing my heart beat right now from the sound of a machine, and every beat is directed by a computer; I've been (technically) dead, not for want of my body trying to get & stay there 4 different ways. Every moment is now a gift, something I'd not have experienced if not for modern medical tech (even healthier than most my age). Every dreary day, every hurtful word, every irritation, ... each is better than not having it at all, each being a painful step to the joys of sunsets, cardinals, smiling children, snuggling wife, and every other precious moment I have because "they're stopping his heart now" was followed (hours later) by the unreal experience of waking up. For those who have not been to the edge and back, one's sense of proportion would do well to contemplate the meaning of going there, giving proper scale to the minutiae so many find impossibly grievous.