If I am not here in a year’s time
This week, I have been reading a book called, “If I am not here in a year’s time.” It was written by a Japanese psychiatrist, Shimizu Ken, while he was treating and speaking with 4,000 cancer patients. It includes changes he observed in his patients and changes within himself. It is not a religious book and the focus is set on the limitation of humans and how to live without regrets.
Most people know that death is inevitable but say that they can’t really feel it. Life expectancy is about 80 years old, and the likelihood of a person getting cancer is 39.8% in men and 34.2% in women. This means that any one of us could get cancer.
When cancer patients first learn of their illness, they are shocked by the news, feel at a loss and fall into deep sadness. However, when they start to face reality, they start to have new views and there are changes in their focus.
A 50 year-old laryngeal cancer patient’s goal was to save money and he felt joy when he looked at the money saved in his bank account. However, after the cancer diagnosis, because of the uncertainty of his future, he realised that he had only been focusing on earning and saving money but not really thinking about where to spend it. He thought about what the role of money was. Eventually, he reached to the conclusion that the money was to be used to spend his time and happiness with his family and people precious to him.
A phrase that piqued my interest was, “Life is a trip that you can’t return once you go”. If we realise that our life is a trip where we can’t re-live it, we will realise that every moment in our lives, our family, our house churches, and everything we can enjoy will become precious.
Everything we have now is not our right, but when we remember that it is gifted to us by God, we will be able to live today with happiness and joy.
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수정교회 번역팀 2021.07.24 22:30
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This week, I have been reading a book called, “If I am not here in a year’s time.” It was written by a Japanese psychiatrist, Shimizu Ken, while he was treating and speaking with 4,000 cancer patients. It includes changes he observed in his patients and changes within himself. It is not a religious book and the focus is set on the limitation of humans and how to live without regrets.
Most people know that death is inevitable but say that they can’t really feel it. Life expectancy is about 80 years old, and the likelihood of a person getting cancer is 39.8% in men and 34.2% in women. This means that any one of us could get cancer.
When cancer patients first learn of their illness, they are shocked by the news, feel at a loss and fall into deep sadness. However, when they start to face reality, they start to have new views and there are changes in their focus.
A 50 year-old laryngeal cancer patient’s goal was to save money and he felt joy when he looked at the money saved in his bank account. However, after the cancer diagnosis, because of the uncertainty of his future, he realised that he had only been focusing on earning and saving money but not really thinking about where to spend it. He thought about what the role of money was. Eventually, he reached to the conclusion that the money was to be used to spend his time and happiness with his family and people precious to him.
A phrase that piqued my interest was, “Life is a trip that you can’t return once you go”. If we realise that our life is a trip where we can’t re-live it, we will realise that every moment in our lives, our family, our house churches, and everything we can enjoy will become precious.
Everything we have now is not our right, but when we remember that it is gifted to us by God, we will be able to live today with happiness and joy.