24-Year-Old Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer Lists The Things He Realized Are Truly Important In This Life
Life can get you down sometimes. Work can be stressful, there’s also family, kids, health issues and trying to keep a fulfilling social life. Sometimes, if you’re not careful, you can find yourself stuck in a rut; the same old routines and responsibilities can eventually sap your joy and zest for life.
But it’s important not to take what you have for granted; because it can all be taken away from you at the drop of a hat, and you’ll wish you’d have done more of what you love. This heartbreaking Reddit post, written by a 24-year-old with a terminal cancer diagnosis, was designed to put things into perspective. The piece, written from the heart with only people’s best interests in mind, is a reminder that life is truly a gift, and we shouldn’t waste a second of this precious opportunity.
Wow. Motivational or what? This perspective, written by someone who unfortunately gained it too late, is everything you need to grab the bull by the horns and start living the way you want to live. Sick of that crappy job? Do something about it. Unhappy with your partner or friends? Get new ones. Don’t be afraid of the unknown and never resign yourself to helpless unhappiness. Do something about it while you still can!
Here’s what people had to say about the powerful post
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I know he said he can not be cured at the very beginning but somehow it makes me even more sad to see that some of the comments are from 4 years ago.. bless your soul...
I want to know about the writer. Is he alive? Maybe he beat CA? We need a followup!
So sad for the guy but the reality is that for a lot of us, we have to work and find a job that pays a wage we can live on sadly. I'm on quite good money, around £67,000 a year, i studied hard for a few years for the IT degree but honestly, it sucks and i have no real connection to it, i want to work with animals and open a shelter but to do that i would need to take a serious pay cut and work hard with nothing for a few years, and i will admit to being very worried about what would happen to me, my wife and our pets so i just keep going on. Sad as f**k for this young lad though, to face your own mortality, i'm sure, is eye-opening.
When in college, I took a job as "night security" on a ward with terminal patients. Turned out to be14–24-y/o patients at Children's Hospital. Many had grown up in the hospital and would live there the rest of their lives. There were creative writing programs, one of which offered to have people interview the patients and transcribe the results. I was an English major, so I corrected grammar at night. Some of the best wisdom I remember: • Do something fun every day, even if it's just touching yourself. • Get over yourself, there's a lot going on in the world. • If nobody listens to what you say, pretend you're choking. • Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
I like the advice, if impacting the world is what will make someone happy. Maybe not everyone cares about that though and that’s fine too. I agree that people should try to do something they enjoy. It’s not always possible, but it should be a goal at least. I quit my job to do what I wanted. It took me years to get to a point where it was possible. And I spent so much time pawning all my s**t and eating rice and lentils for every meal. But the difference in happiness is immeasurable.
Powerful powerful words. You have successfully impacted many lives by your writing. Thanks for being courageous and letting us read!
Lord Jesus, thank you that you love this young 24 year old man I know that you hate what their illness is doing to them/me. I ask that you would heal this disease, that you would have compassion and bring healing from all sickness. Your word says in Psalm 107:19-20 that when we call out to you the Eternal one you will give the order, heal and rescue us from certain death. In the Bible, I have read of miraculous healing and I believe that you still heal the same way today. I believe that there is no illness you cannot heal after all the bible tells of you raising people from the dead so I ask for your healing in this situation. I also know from my experience of life on earth that not everyone is healed. If that happens here than keep my heart soft towards you, help me to understand your plan and help me to be excited about heaven. God, I thank you that this young 24 year old man belongs to you and that you are in control of everything that happens from our first breath to our last
A lot of people hung up on the job comment he made in this comment section
I am saving your inspiring words with their deep wisdom. Thank you and God bless.
God, I would love to just pack in my job and do what I enjoy - but what I enjoy costs a c**p tonne of money. I'll continue working in my average job, earning slightly above average income, to support my enjoyable hobbies. Condolences to the family.
I was in Bremen, Germany for 3 months in 2010, and one night a very old German artist said something that I'll always remember and repeat. She said; ...'life is too short, eat the desert first!' Another thing that matters to me is this issue about work. If you choose to do what makes you happy, if you follow your passion, nothing will ever feel like work.
Help! This is a serious question: how do you get rid of a toxic person when she's your mother? I'm 65 now and only just realized that Mom's favorite activity is humiliating me, preferably in public. She once told me that she never wanted kids and that I was just God's punishment for the joy of sex. I was a teenager then and decided to leave home for good..... meanwhile she's had a lot of orthopedic surgery, I live about 20 miles away, but I can't GET away.
You don't owe your mother anything. If you can't distance yourself physically, do it mentally. We have no responsibility to our parents, they gave us life but we didn't ask for it. If she is harming you psychologically you owe it to yourself to remove yourself from the situation. We are only responsible for our own happiness.
Load More Replies... Having done many many jobs over the years, my wisdom is this: do something that pays you really really well and stop working as soon as you can. You won’t get fulfilment from paid work, even if you enjoy something, the moment it’s monetised it stops being enjoyable, get it from voluntary work and your interests.
I know he said he can not be cured at the very beginning but somehow it makes me even more sad to see that some of the comments are from 4 years ago.. bless your soul...
I want to know about the writer. Is he alive? Maybe he beat CA? We need a followup!
So sad for the guy but the reality is that for a lot of us, we have to work and find a job that pays a wage we can live on sadly. I'm on quite good money, around £67,000 a year, i studied hard for a few years for the IT degree but honestly, it sucks and i have no real connection to it, i want to work with animals and open a shelter but to do that i would need to take a serious pay cut and work hard with nothing for a few years, and i will admit to being very worried about what would happen to me, my wife and our pets so i just keep going on. Sad as f**k for this young lad though, to face your own mortality, i'm sure, is eye-opening.
When in college, I took a job as "night security" on a ward with terminal patients. Turned out to be14–24-y/o patients at Children's Hospital. Many had grown up in the hospital and would live there the rest of their lives. There were creative writing programs, one of which offered to have people interview the patients and transcribe the results. I was an English major, so I corrected grammar at night. Some of the best wisdom I remember: • Do something fun every day, even if it's just touching yourself. • Get over yourself, there's a lot going on in the world. • If nobody listens to what you say, pretend you're choking. • Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
I like the advice, if impacting the world is what will make someone happy. Maybe not everyone cares about that though and that’s fine too. I agree that people should try to do something they enjoy. It’s not always possible, but it should be a goal at least. I quit my job to do what I wanted. It took me years to get to a point where it was possible. And I spent so much time pawning all my s**t and eating rice and lentils for every meal. But the difference in happiness is immeasurable.
Powerful powerful words. You have successfully impacted many lives by your writing. Thanks for being courageous and letting us read!
Lord Jesus, thank you that you love this young 24 year old man I know that you hate what their illness is doing to them/me. I ask that you would heal this disease, that you would have compassion and bring healing from all sickness. Your word says in Psalm 107:19-20 that when we call out to you the Eternal one you will give the order, heal and rescue us from certain death. In the Bible, I have read of miraculous healing and I believe that you still heal the same way today. I believe that there is no illness you cannot heal after all the bible tells of you raising people from the dead so I ask for your healing in this situation. I also know from my experience of life on earth that not everyone is healed. If that happens here than keep my heart soft towards you, help me to understand your plan and help me to be excited about heaven. God, I thank you that this young 24 year old man belongs to you and that you are in control of everything that happens from our first breath to our last
A lot of people hung up on the job comment he made in this comment section
I am saving your inspiring words with their deep wisdom. Thank you and God bless.
God, I would love to just pack in my job and do what I enjoy - but what I enjoy costs a c**p tonne of money. I'll continue working in my average job, earning slightly above average income, to support my enjoyable hobbies. Condolences to the family.
I was in Bremen, Germany for 3 months in 2010, and one night a very old German artist said something that I'll always remember and repeat. She said; ...'life is too short, eat the desert first!' Another thing that matters to me is this issue about work. If you choose to do what makes you happy, if you follow your passion, nothing will ever feel like work.
Help! This is a serious question: how do you get rid of a toxic person when she's your mother? I'm 65 now and only just realized that Mom's favorite activity is humiliating me, preferably in public. She once told me that she never wanted kids and that I was just God's punishment for the joy of sex. I was a teenager then and decided to leave home for good..... meanwhile she's had a lot of orthopedic surgery, I live about 20 miles away, but I can't GET away.
You don't owe your mother anything. If you can't distance yourself physically, do it mentally. We have no responsibility to our parents, they gave us life but we didn't ask for it. If she is harming you psychologically you owe it to yourself to remove yourself from the situation. We are only responsible for our own happiness.
Load More Replies... Having done many many jobs over the years, my wisdom is this: do something that pays you really really well and stop working as soon as you can. You won’t get fulfilment from paid work, even if you enjoy something, the moment it’s monetised it stops being enjoyable, get it from voluntary work and your interests.
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