Perspective

2024-08-06

I recently read both Starting Hospice and No Salt posted on Jake’s blog and was quite moved. I don’t know Jake and have never met him - but his writing and shared experiences give a very real look into his mind and perspective. If you haven’t yet, I strongly recommend giving his site a read (or at the very least those two posts). It made me reflect on my own life, shift my perspective and realize how fortunate I truly am.

Losing Focus

I think we all find ourselves losing focus on the truly important things in life. That’s normal and expected. Maybe your house needs repairs, or you’re crunching for an upcoming deadline, or your prepping for a long a work trip, or your stressed out hunting for a job. Whatever it might be, our brains are very good at getting derailed and putting all our attention into less important things. But I believe our minds need to wander and focus on the less important. Otherwise your mental health would suffer greatly. And I should note, some of these “stresses” still require our attention. I just don’t think they should consume us.

I’m not advocating that we need to constantly be obsessing over the limited time we have on this spinning rock, or that we should smother our families with over-the-top love. Just stopping and reflecting on these things can really put any worries you have into perspective. It might be cliche to state the obvious, “Be grateful for what you have!” but cliche or not - it’s true.

Jake will be leaving behind not just his friends and family, but also his wife who is 7-months pregnant. I can’t begin to imagine the range of emotions everyone close to him must be feeling. I know I would be furious, which doesn’t make sense since something like this is so far removed from human control. Being angry would just be wasted energy. But that’s easier said than done.

I don’t have a whole lot else to say on the matter. This post also pales in comparison to Jake’s actual experience and shared perspective on his site. I really wasn’t even sure to share this on my site, in fear that I would be somehow disrespecting Jake’s memory (along with his much better writing skills and openness). But then I thought, if anything, I could help reach Jake’s story to even one other person and help them reflect on their own perspective as well.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a long, purposefully slow walk with my family.