Monica Williams-Murphy, MD, is an emergency physician and author of It’s Okay to Die. I’ve quoted her writing a couple times during the past two years in my weekly editions of Supportive Care Connections.
I’d like to do so again and this time from her book, It’s Okay to Die, regarding the 10 percent of us who will die unexpectedly:
“Death can come without warning… It can steal you away quickly and with great force… The lesson I have learned from caring for these people and their families, and want you to realize is this: Life is fleeting and fragile. Live and love as though every day is your last. Leave no words unsaid, leave no plans unmade.”
Last Updated: November 6, 2018
5 Comments
Life is so fragile. Enjoy every day like it could be your last day here on earth, Don’t go to bed with grudges.
For people that have Christ in their lives, we need to make sure our loved ones and close friends also have Christ in their lives so One day we will all be together in Heaven.
I appreciate the comment about making sure that our loved ones and close friends also have Christ in their lives!! Thank you, because it seems that holistic medicine focuses mostly on the here and now. Any hope or gain is temporary if it is not centered in Christ, and for the glory of God, our Creator!
Live by this! The reality of death coming without warning is too often shown but to see families who have no regrets and have always show their love for one another is a true blessing. God Bless!
Thank you for the reminder about this book, I was told about it at ELNEC training and forgot about it. I will be picking it up soon!
Thanks for all the comments. One of the things I learned early on in my hospice and palliative medicine work was that life is indeed very fragile and precious. We hear a lot about how we need to “live like we are dying” these days, but until you have experienced a significant loss, it only seems like a nice thing to say or do. Imagine, if you can, that your last action was truly your LAST action…how would that reflect to your family and loved ones? Or, put another way, what if you knew tomorrow was your last day? Would you do anything different? What does that say about what you are doing today? (All rhetorical questions, but feel free to comment further if you want!).