Philosophy of life

Life is too precious for petty squabbles

Over the last two months I witnessed two catastrophes that made me ponder on the meaning of life.

The first was a close relative of mine who at the age of 48 had an attack of massive brain stem stroke that has left him in a vegetative state requiring the help of a respirator to keep him alive.

This has resulted in the life of his wife and two young children being shattered and torn. They not only have to carry on with their lives but spend much time and energy and money to fend for him.

The second catastrophe involves a good friend of mine who at the age of 45 was admitted with acute renal failure, requiring ventilator support in the ICU. Only now I came to know that that he has been a diabetic for the last 10 years and not on proper treatment.

His family too, with very young children, has been thrown into disarray. He has to go for regular renal dialysis and life will never be normal again for him and his family.

These two experiences over such a short period have made me ponder on the uncertainties of life itself. Today we may be rich and mighty; tomorrow we become reduced to a helpless vegetative state. No amount of wealth or power can restore us back to normal.

Life today has become so competitive and we have to join in the pursuit of wealth in order to survive and get the comforts of life. In this pursuit, all moral and ethical values are irrelevant and brushed aside. In this race we become suspicious of one another. This results in we, fighting with one another over petty issues which causes break up of families and friends. We become obsessed with finding fault with everyone else except our own self.

We forget that are so many out there like the two cases I mentioned above who are helpless and waiting for death to free them from the suffering of this world. We have just to visit one such patient in the hospital to realize our folly to be preoccupied with our petty squabbles.

God must be sending us all a message in such calamities. He is asking us to put aside our petty problems and come together do alleviate the pain and suffering of fellow humans regardless of race or creed. We do not know how much time we have, as even tomorrow is so uncertain.

Dr.Chris Anthony