A Will to Live by Dr. Juan Harrison
A Will to Live
We all cheered in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life when Jimmy Stewart gets rescued from the cold waters and has a second chance at life. Running down the street later we see his appreciation and enthusiasm as he looks at life differently now. Not everybody in real life gets a second chance. A national politician’s wife recently took her own life. Unfortunately for her she decided too late that life was worth living; they found her hanging by a rope in her barn with her fingers caught inside the noose as she belatedly realized she wasn’t ready to go just yet.
Human beings are funny critters. I reminded you about the episode on Gunsmoke where Festus gets in between an old Indian trying to fade off into oblivion and die gracefully by himself. Festus was determined to try to keep him from his wishes.
Too frequently locally and across the country we see prominent people, especially men, who have a high success rate of ending it all, or so they think. We’ve heard recently of several college and professional athletes doing the same thing. What’s going on? What’s causing people who appear to have everything going for them just to throw it all away? They’ve lost the will to live.
Fortunately for most of us there’s something inside us that ultimately causes us to fight on, often against insurmountable odds. We often see babies in ICU where we refer to them as fighters as they stubbornly cling to life as helpless prayerful parents cheer them on. On my oncology radiation visits we’ve become good friends with a 71-year-old grandma who is receiving radiation, chemo, and dialysis all at the same time. What gives her the will and desire to fight on through the bad days. I’ve told you of my experiences overseas where I encountered little babies in orphanages where they lost their will to live without much human touch and interaction. On the other end of the scale, we frequently see old partners apparently losing a reason to live as they too pass away soon after their spouse has gone on.
Human will is a mysterious thing. It helps us fight the good fight; loss of it sees us start to die in front of others’ eyes. One thing my wife and I have learned on our 45 trips for treatments is how generally positive and hopeful the patients are there. We share encouraging stories and laughter as we see determined folks bent on beating the odds. We don’t see a lot of woe is me. So many of us Mamaw and Papaws keep reminding each other that there’s a passle of grandkids out there still waiting on us to tell them one more story, sing them one more song, and give them one more hug. On our visits to the grands 2-year-old Murphy says, “Prize, prize.” He points to Mamaw’s purse. We gotta hang in there. Who else is gonna spoil em.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
