Monday, December 12, 2005

Evanescence

Dalai LamaYou must not procrastinate. Rather, you should make preparations so that even if you did die tonight, you would have no regrets. If you develop an appreciation for the uncertainty and imminence of death, your sense of the importance of using your time wisely will get stronger and stronger.
- Dalai Lama, 1935-



A couple weeks ago i was having chest pains and was whisked off to the ER and admitted to the hospital (a first for me) for observation. Turns out my heart is fine so the docs' conclusion was that it was reflux. I suspect it was due to stress, no more, no less, from trying to meet a print deadline for holiday sales. I had more than enough time languishing supine, hooked up to the EKG, to have more than intimations of my mortality. Then four people i know, one of whom i recently met, have died in the last two weeks, one violently and the others from medical conditions, all fairly suddenly.

Which brings me to a point of trying to achieve a delicate balance between forging ahead with my work publishing wisdom quotations, which i consider my opus vitae, but which work has been the cause of my stress, and maintaining my vital equilibrium. I've been forced to conclude it's just as important use of my time to be able to relax and breathe deeply. So the publication has been set back some, the work has become fun again, and finally at proofreading stage.

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