In “Journey to Ixtlan", Carlos Castaneda writes about the Angel of Death as being always present near one’s left shoulder. If one turns fast enough, Castaneda writes, it is possible to catch a glimpse of the Angel, and remember to live every moment fully because it could be our last.
This past week, my friend Connie had a chance to come face to face with her own mortality. After becoming very ill because of an untreated kidney infection, she was taken to the hospital, and immediately admitted. For a few days, her doctors struggled to keep the infection under control, and her condition seemed to deteriorate by the minute.
Saying that Connie was terrified is a serious understatement. She knew her body was shutting down, and everything she had taken for granted was quickly spiraling out of control. Connie thought she was going to die.
When I spoke with her, the first words out of her mouth were about her children. She was afraid of how they would cope if something happened to her, and also realized how much she missed simply having them around. She talked of the times she got angry with them over trivial things, when she could have instead told them how much she loved them.
Having three children myself, I totally understand the frustrations of parenting. Yet, Connie’s ordeal seriously made me think.
What if something was to happen to me, and I wasn’t able to connect to all the people I love or respect before leaving this earthly plane? Would they know how much I care about them? If I was to die tomorrow, would it really matter that my three-year-old daughter flooded the bathroom today, or that my husband didn’t throw his dirty socks in the hamper this morning?
We spend such a large portion of our lives worrying about things that don’t matter, that we lose focus of what is truly important. We hold grudges against people we love over unimportant matters, and never think that we may not have another chance to make amends.
After talking to Connie, I thought about my own family, my children, my parents who live far away. I realized that many times I hang up the phone without telling my husband that I love him, I choose housework over going to the park with my children, I forget to call my parents and friends because I am too busy. I never think that those simple actions could be the last chance I have to let them know how I feel. If something suddenly happened to me – or them – those perfect opportunities would be lost forever.
We are programmed to allow life's circumstances to take over, to focus on making the next dollar as if it is the last chance we have to become rich, and we forget that it is up to us to appreciate each moment and the subtle blessings that surround us at all times. The dishes will still be there the next day, and the paperwork will be waiting for us when we get back, but will our loved ones be there tomorrow? Or even later today?
Each moment of our lives that is not fully appreciated is a moment we have wasted; it's a gift we have not accepted; it's an opportunity that may be lost forever.
Showing posts with label hospital death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hospital death. Show all posts
Monday, August 4, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Islam: A Highway to Peace on the Map of Global Unity
Of the four billion people who died in the 20th century from all causes combined, 185,000,000 deaths were caused by other humans.
At 8.5 millions, murders exceed deaths related to natural disaster (including floods, earthquakes and volcanoes) by five millions.
These are scary odds. They get even scarier when one thinks that many of the 'manmade' deaths are the product of hate crimes.
Organizations around the world are working very hard in promoting education and tolerance, but many individuals are still light years away from understanding the spiritual link that connects us all beyond race, heritage and social standing.
A few days ago, I stood behind a young man wearing eastern garb while I waited in line at a local fast-food restaurant, and I noticed that a lot of the people around were focused on the black backpack on the young man’s shoulders. Although the line continued to move smoothly toward the cash register, low-level anxiety was almost tangible. A serial killer could have been standing there wearing a baseball cap - and he would have gone completely unnoticed - but the young man wearing a turban was looked upon like a circus animal.
Sadly, since the September 11 incident, anyone wearing eastern garments has been at risk of attracting unwanted attention in our country, even though the individuals responsible for the 9/11 atrocities were disguised as normal Americans, and they boarded our planes wearing regular slacks, dress shirts and NOT donning a turban.
Ignorance has certainly played a huge part in this process, but it is intolerable that so many people have been demonized and demoted to sub-human status because of their religious affiliations or fashion trends.
Religious conflicts and wars have claimed many lives throughout history, but it must be made clear that the people responsible for those deaths are not the good and honest believers; rather, they are a minority group of fanatics and radicals who have used religion to manipulate the masses and fit their personal evil purposes.
As the Dalai Lama passionately stated in his address to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, “it’s totally wrong and unfair to call Islam a violent religion”. http://www.newsobserver.com/2178/story/1140533.html
With events such as the Euro-Mediterranean Summit which took place this past weekend,
http://voanews.com/english/2008-07-13-voa13.cfm, worldwide leaders are hoping to promote understanding and peace, but it is up to individuals to understand that religions are paths to love, not hatred or destruction.
As children, we were taught that one bad apple does not necessarily spoil the whole basket, but as adults we conveniently choose to throw all the apples in the trash, regardless of the fact that many of them are good and perfectly healthy.
Islamic radicals are the exception, not the rule, of Islam, as much as Catholic Inquisitors or Christian Crusaders were not rightful representatives of the Christian creed.
As citizens of this country and inhabitants of this world, we need to take a hard look at the atrocities we personally commit when we simply judge good people because of their beliefs or appearance. Only by allowing ourselves to see the other paths leading to a common vision of peace and unconditional love, we will increase our chances of ever getting to our desired destination.
At 8.5 millions, murders exceed deaths related to natural disaster (including floods, earthquakes and volcanoes) by five millions.
These are scary odds. They get even scarier when one thinks that many of the 'manmade' deaths are the product of hate crimes.
Organizations around the world are working very hard in promoting education and tolerance, but many individuals are still light years away from understanding the spiritual link that connects us all beyond race, heritage and social standing.
A few days ago, I stood behind a young man wearing eastern garb while I waited in line at a local fast-food restaurant, and I noticed that a lot of the people around were focused on the black backpack on the young man’s shoulders. Although the line continued to move smoothly toward the cash register, low-level anxiety was almost tangible. A serial killer could have been standing there wearing a baseball cap - and he would have gone completely unnoticed - but the young man wearing a turban was looked upon like a circus animal.
Sadly, since the September 11 incident, anyone wearing eastern garments has been at risk of attracting unwanted attention in our country, even though the individuals responsible for the 9/11 atrocities were disguised as normal Americans, and they boarded our planes wearing regular slacks, dress shirts and NOT donning a turban.
Ignorance has certainly played a huge part in this process, but it is intolerable that so many people have been demonized and demoted to sub-human status because of their religious affiliations or fashion trends.
Religious conflicts and wars have claimed many lives throughout history, but it must be made clear that the people responsible for those deaths are not the good and honest believers; rather, they are a minority group of fanatics and radicals who have used religion to manipulate the masses and fit their personal evil purposes.
As the Dalai Lama passionately stated in his address to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, “it’s totally wrong and unfair to call Islam a violent religion”. http://www.newsobserver.com/2178/story/1140533.html
With events such as the Euro-Mediterranean Summit which took place this past weekend,
http://voanews.com/english/2008-07-13-voa13.cfm, worldwide leaders are hoping to promote understanding and peace, but it is up to individuals to understand that religions are paths to love, not hatred or destruction.
As children, we were taught that one bad apple does not necessarily spoil the whole basket, but as adults we conveniently choose to throw all the apples in the trash, regardless of the fact that many of them are good and perfectly healthy.
Islamic radicals are the exception, not the rule, of Islam, as much as Catholic Inquisitors or Christian Crusaders were not rightful representatives of the Christian creed.
As citizens of this country and inhabitants of this world, we need to take a hard look at the atrocities we personally commit when we simply judge good people because of their beliefs or appearance. Only by allowing ourselves to see the other paths leading to a common vision of peace and unconditional love, we will increase our chances of ever getting to our desired destination.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Changing the world one act at a time.
In the aftermath of 49-year-old Esmine Green’s death, after she collapsed in a NY hospital where she had been waiting to be evaluated for 24 hrs, people are scratching their heads.
In a shocking video released to the media, Esmine is seen thrashing on the floor of the waiting room for over thirty minutes, in obvious distress, before she died. Hospital personnel are caught on tape while passing by the collapsed woman, ignoring her condition entirely.
So far, six people including security and medical personnel have been fired and many of the hospital policies have been revised, but six children are still left alone without a mother to care for them.
At least two or three people walked beside Esmine Green while she was in the throes of death, but went on to mind their business as if she was not there.
Since the late eighties, a lot of emergency rooms around the country have admitted that their lack of proper care toward patients is aimed at discouraging people from going to the ER. Because of a drop in health insurance coverage, a lot more people have used ER facilities to treat ailments that are routine care and not life threatening, stretching the already overwhelmed staff, and increasing waiting time for patients who go in for emergencies.
The ward where Esmine Green awaited her death is described as filthy and poorly managed, but that’s not enough to explain the total lack of human compassion exhibited in the waiting room. There is no excuse as to why a human being is treated this way.
With crime constantly on the rise, and violence being glorified by the media, we have become desensitized to the suffering of others.
Especially in poverty-ridden areas, residents are so used to witnessing pain and discomfort that they have made them a part of their everyday reality. Life is given very little value, and incidents such as the one of which Esmine Green was the victim are blamed on one thing or the other, with nobody really stepping up to claim their personal responsibility in the act.
As humans, we love the blame game. We blame everything and everybody, we shake our heads in disbelief, but none of us are truly willing to accept the fact that we are all responsible for what is happening. We can’t change the world in its entirety, but we have the opportunity to change the reality we live in by at least caring for one another.
We spend our lives consuming ourselves with worry over things that are out of our sphere of control, but willingly turn our heads away from events we can personally impact.
We have deliberately isolated ourselves from the collective consciousness of the world, and have become disconnected from the light that each life brings to the whole.
The dim light of one candle might be bright enough to expose the path to walk, but the light of a thousand candles will make the road clear and the obstacles visible.
By opening to one another we can allow ourselves to widen our perspective and understand the value of life beyond first impression.
It is time we reclaim our divine nature and renew our connection to the light that lives inside each of us, regardless of circumstances.
When someone needs our help, whether it is a hungry man asking for change or a woman seeking medical attention, we need to open our eyes and see that we are in front of a window of opportunity, through which we can soar to the higher skies of human compassion and unconditional love. And when the rest of the world seems to be crumbling around us, we can peacefully know that we are taking steps to change what we can, one act at a time.
In a shocking video released to the media, Esmine is seen thrashing on the floor of the waiting room for over thirty minutes, in obvious distress, before she died. Hospital personnel are caught on tape while passing by the collapsed woman, ignoring her condition entirely.
So far, six people including security and medical personnel have been fired and many of the hospital policies have been revised, but six children are still left alone without a mother to care for them.
At least two or three people walked beside Esmine Green while she was in the throes of death, but went on to mind their business as if she was not there.
Since the late eighties, a lot of emergency rooms around the country have admitted that their lack of proper care toward patients is aimed at discouraging people from going to the ER. Because of a drop in health insurance coverage, a lot more people have used ER facilities to treat ailments that are routine care and not life threatening, stretching the already overwhelmed staff, and increasing waiting time for patients who go in for emergencies.
The ward where Esmine Green awaited her death is described as filthy and poorly managed, but that’s not enough to explain the total lack of human compassion exhibited in the waiting room. There is no excuse as to why a human being is treated this way.
With crime constantly on the rise, and violence being glorified by the media, we have become desensitized to the suffering of others.
Especially in poverty-ridden areas, residents are so used to witnessing pain and discomfort that they have made them a part of their everyday reality. Life is given very little value, and incidents such as the one of which Esmine Green was the victim are blamed on one thing or the other, with nobody really stepping up to claim their personal responsibility in the act.
As humans, we love the blame game. We blame everything and everybody, we shake our heads in disbelief, but none of us are truly willing to accept the fact that we are all responsible for what is happening. We can’t change the world in its entirety, but we have the opportunity to change the reality we live in by at least caring for one another.
We spend our lives consuming ourselves with worry over things that are out of our sphere of control, but willingly turn our heads away from events we can personally impact.
We have deliberately isolated ourselves from the collective consciousness of the world, and have become disconnected from the light that each life brings to the whole.
The dim light of one candle might be bright enough to expose the path to walk, but the light of a thousand candles will make the road clear and the obstacles visible.
By opening to one another we can allow ourselves to widen our perspective and understand the value of life beyond first impression.
It is time we reclaim our divine nature and renew our connection to the light that lives inside each of us, regardless of circumstances.
When someone needs our help, whether it is a hungry man asking for change or a woman seeking medical attention, we need to open our eyes and see that we are in front of a window of opportunity, through which we can soar to the higher skies of human compassion and unconditional love. And when the rest of the world seems to be crumbling around us, we can peacefully know that we are taking steps to change what we can, one act at a time.
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