When I was a young boy, I was always fascinated by the subject of science. I loved the experiments we did in class and I loved learning fascinating information about things and how they work. Earth science was always my favorite, but I enjoyed physics and biology as well. Even chemistry was interesting to me. The information was always so enlightening and it provided a better understanding to our foundation, down to the most basic level of cells and elements. Knowing things was always something I gravitated towards.
I was shocked to learn, fairly recently in fact, that although science is the study of the physical and natural world, it isn't necessarily compromised of all facts. Science uses empirical evidence to back up testable theories but that's all they are - theories. The laws of gravity are based on a theory, so is evolution and the formation of Earth. Almost everything we know today is built on a foundation of theories and not facts.
Almost everything
There are only two facts that we, as humans, are absolutely sure of: we are all born and we all die. Anything beyond that can be speculated upon. Theories change. Science evolves. That's just the way of life. But those two facts - those two facts remain consistent, and they will for the rest of time.
Giving birth has always been considered one of the greatest gifts, if not the greatest. It's a miracle of life, whether you view it from a biological standpoint or spiritual. It's extraordinary and truly something special.
Death, on the other hand, is a concept that people seem to struggle with. We know it's inevitable - no one can live forever, and I'm not sure anyone would want to. We also know the basics of it and the general process of dying. However, it still remains rather terrifying. Thinking of death is particularly unsettling and causes a certain type of anxiety to bubble up from within. I would also argue that the thought of your own death causes minor grief - grief of the life you haven't even stopped living yet.
I wasn't terribly old when I was diagnosed with terminal cancer and found out I was dying. And I use the past tense here because by the time you, dear reader, are reading this, I will be long gone. And that's okay. I've come to terms with it. I don't want your pity or sympathy, but I thought you should know since you've decided to pick up this book and read it. I want you to understand me completely while I take you on this emotional journey.
So yes, I was dying and I struggled with it initially. I was caught up in my own fears and anxiety, and I found myself grieving the loss of my life even though it hadn't ended yet. I was consumed with thoughts of the unknown afterlife and I was terrified with what I would find. But do you know what? None of that really mattered. I worried for weeks all to come to the conclusion that my fears, although valid, weren't the most important thing.
I went into a period of reflection, which is when I actually started writing this book in the form of messy sentences thrown together on old napkins and paper scraps I had lying around. Rather than fearing the inevitable I would be faced with, I forced myself to reflect back on the life that I had lived.
During your short journey reading this book, should you choose to do so, I will ask you to reflect on your own life. You might want to ask yourself: What are we doing here? What am I doing here? What is my purpose on this Earth - on this rock just floating through space? If you're not asking yourself that - if you, reader, are not asking yourself that - then you are lying to yourself about your life. You're wasting your time because one day the time will come for you to reflect and question what kind of a life you lived.
So I'll challenge you to have this difficult conversation with yourself in order for you to reach inner peace and that feeling of contentment. Why wait until our last dying breath to question ourselves? What good has waiting ever done? I wish I had reflected on my life sooner than I did, but I'm glad I had the chance before it was too late. And I do hope you'll join me throughout this book so that you, too, can reflect and life the rest of your life to the fullest extent imaginable. Life is about living, not waiting for miracles or watching the clock tick by. We must try to enjoy every second of it. It would a sin not to.
So I invite you to self reflect while reading further so I can take you on this journey and hopefully, you will take something from my words. I'm not expecting you to walk out of this a completely changed person, no, but I'd like to think that maybe - just maybe - I can offer a little bit of advice. Take it from one dying person to another, because after all, isn't that what we all are?
So go on, dear reader, and join me as I walk you through my journey and hopefully open up the beginning of yours. I hope you'll stick around.
- Robin
