death
Death
Why are we afraid of the dark? Why do snakes and spiders frighten us? If we were to trace all our fears down to their very root, we would inevitable come face to face with the Spectre of Death. To be no longer numbered amongst the living haunts us like no other demon. The knowledge that one day we will al cease to be has turned some of us philosophers and others into priests. Mostly, though, death has made cowards of us all. We pop vitamins, eat fibre, run three times a week: all the while looking warily over our shoulder to be sure that death's long shadow isn't gaining on us.
Our vigilance and all the advances in medical science make no difference. The statistics on death are still a hundred per cent, just as they used to be ten thousand years ago. Whoever is born, dies. A birth and a death, in fact, are the two only requirements for a life. Once we accept our demise as a certainty and a part of the cosmic deal; death becomes a friend who sits on our shoulder to remind us that, as we are only here for a short visit, shouldn't we be smelling the flowers along the way?
At the Singapore Hospice Council, we believe it is neither morbid not fatalistic to contemplate our own death, As Morrie so wisely puts in Tuesdays with Morrie, "Once we learn how to die, we'll learn how to live." So to help us mull over our mortality, we have assembled some useful information and friendly advice on the subject.
The best place to die, Given a choice, most of us would rather spend our final moments in the comfort of our own home, and certainly not in our least favourite place: the hospital................
Quick exits. When asked how we'd like to go, most of us would hide behind dark humour. " I want to live to be a hundred and ten, and be shot in the back by a jealous husband." Or, "I want my last words to be" "A truck!" While sudden deaths might seem appealing, in reality they leave a great many things undone, and they are very often the hardest deaths for families to accept.......
So long. "I forgive you". "Forgive me". "Thank you"."I love you". "Goodbye". Those are the five steps of relationship closure. Under hospice care, we........
Never walk alone. We all pass away alone. Unless we die in a car accident with others, we are the only one dying at that moment in time. Death is, by its very nature, the loneliest experience man was ordained to endure. It is a loneliness that's compounded by the fact that we isolate the dying at this crucial time. We isolate them by no longer listening to them. Sometimes we're not with them physically, but more often, we're no longer with the, emotionally. The widely held notion that the dying do not want to talk about death is a myth. Of course, they want to talk about it; they are about to enter the great unknown and talking can therapeutic.
Our vigilance and all the advances in medical science make no difference. The statistics on death are still a hundred per cent, just as they used to be ten thousand years ago. Whoever is born, dies. A birth and a death, in fact, are the two only requirements for a life. Once we accept our demise as a certainty and a part of the cosmic deal; death becomes a friend who sits on our shoulder to remind us that, as we are only here for a short visit, shouldn't we be smelling the flowers along the way?
At the Singapore Hospice Council, we believe it is neither morbid not fatalistic to contemplate our own death, As Morrie so wisely puts in Tuesdays with Morrie, "Once we learn how to die, we'll learn how to live." So to help us mull over our mortality, we have assembled some useful information and friendly advice on the subject.
The best place to die, Given a choice, most of us would rather spend our final moments in the comfort of our own home, and certainly not in our least favourite place: the hospital................
Quick exits. When asked how we'd like to go, most of us would hide behind dark humour. " I want to live to be a hundred and ten, and be shot in the back by a jealous husband." Or, "I want my last words to be" "A truck!" While sudden deaths might seem appealing, in reality they leave a great many things undone, and they are very often the hardest deaths for families to accept.......
So long. "I forgive you". "Forgive me". "Thank you"."I love you". "Goodbye". Those are the five steps of relationship closure. Under hospice care, we........
Never walk alone. We all pass away alone. Unless we die in a car accident with others, we are the only one dying at that moment in time. Death is, by its very nature, the loneliest experience man was ordained to endure. It is a loneliness that's compounded by the fact that we isolate the dying at this crucial time. We isolate them by no longer listening to them. Sometimes we're not with them physically, but more often, we're no longer with the, emotionally. The widely held notion that the dying do not want to talk about death is a myth. Of course, they want to talk about it; they are about to enter the great unknown and talking can therapeutic.
above are extracts from an article "DEATH. A user-friendly guide" The Sunday Times, 8/10/2006, Singapore Hospice Council.
any comments on the parts in maroon
...feel free to do so... i'll be penning my thoughts some time later...
at the mean time...i have two more matters to ask:
Q1: Why do teenager these days show PDA more than yesteryears?
Q2: Why doesn't a Christian shares the love of God as easily as telling others where the best char kway tiaw stall (an example) is in Singapore?
a bit too heavy for tonight
posted by WILLIAM @ 2:22 AM
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