IN my continuing effort to find meaning in what I do, I have finally decided that, in the end, life’s ultimate condition is either you are sick or you are willing to go and explore many possibilities.
By “sick”, I don’t mean having an ordinary cold; I mean another condition that is life-changing. By sick, I don’t mean anything that changes your life’s tempo. I also don’t mean cancer, because saying that may be self-fulfilling, in the sense that what we want to avoid may strike us.
To hear about what those with cancer go through is truly horrifying. Aside from the hair loss, one is shocked by what they are made to bear, such as an awareness of the loss of place, of time and of a primary function, which needs sharpening at that point. There is one consolation, though: It will not last forever. There is an ending, but it will not come quickly. In some cases, the sufferer lives for three more years; in others, four or five. It is best that we leave this to those who have to go through it.
The idea of going and exploring many possibilities is more painful, in that it has to do with one’s purpose in life. For example, an audience must wait for a writer to finish his or her introduction to a new program. It comes down to potential and the ability to suffer economically. The writer must bear it, because the ability to survive means something. It is unusual for one to thrive in a career without suffering from something.
Thus, one has to be both patient and capable. You are only one. If you botch it, it is gone forever.