Perspective on a Difficulty
The following is a letter from Tim Jackins to the Reference Person of someone who has been told she has a condition that is usually terminal.
I’m sorry that X— is in such difficulty. In my mind there are two basic thoughts about facing challenges like this:
One is to not give up and not assume things that aren’t known for certain. There are unusual and unexpected victories, and we have the tool of discharge, which almost no one else has.
Secondly, I think we get to make a decision to live life as fully as we can, whatever the circumstances. If there is no way out of death occurring in a short period of time, then what do we want to do with the life we have until then? We can decide to live it, to do things we want to do. We can put our attention on living the life we have, rather than getting stuck and fixated on an approaching end of life.
In doing both these things, we get to discharge on all the restimulated distresses—on fear of pain, death, isolation, helplessness, whatever. We get to work to make our lives larger and our minds clearer even in those circumstances.
With love and appreciation,