The Uncomfortable Truth


Photo by Mahrshi Bisani on Unsplash

Growing up as a child, the uncomfortable thought of Aaarghhhhhh! I’m burning…the smell of burning sulfur filling up every anatomical crevice gave me a total nervous breakdown. Burning in hell was a freaking nightmare albeit not on Elm’s Streets. (Pun intended).

Then I heard I would be totally cut off the Earth and have no consciousness. Wheew! Much comforting don’t you think?
Or probably obey the law of conservation of Energy(b): “…but can be transformed from one form to another” – which means you join the food chain and become the hardcover of some random kid’s textbook in Africa. Given how these kids barely read these days, you’re gonna be pretty safe.
These are some of the popular school of thoughts of life after death according to the Charismatic church, Jehovah Witnesses and those who basically don’t give a shite about the existence of the Supreme Being (Agnostics and Atheists); in no particular order.
Let’s save this debate for another day.

An Encounter With Reality:

It was just another beginning of a borefest Monday morning on the 11th of January, 2016. I had just joined the Junior Clerkship team for my Medicine rotation. As I strolled through the Accident And Emergency Unit in KATH, I curiously hear chatter coming from one of the cubicles.
I bravely entered and saw a bunch of Emergency Doctors and Nurses all busy trying to rescue a kid. Tears rolled down one of the nurse’s eyes. The doctors took turns to resuscitate the kid. He was barely 16 from the look of it.
“Adrenaline ready? Starting chest compressions 1,2,3…” Then I heard the ICU monitor give a constant beep sound: Bpppppppp..!!!
I asked one of the guys in there, “Is he dead?” Oh yes. Chronic Kidney Disease!
Holy Crap!!!

It was the first time, I had seen someone die in real life. “Can he be brought back?” my naïve mind blurted out. One doctor looked at me curiously, with a smirk, and shook his head.
Then a loud cry came from outside, “Me ba no ewu o, bue bue!!!”-(which means my child is dead in the Akan language). The child’s father, with manly tears rolling down uncontrollably grasped his wife so close to his chest, rubbing her back trying to alleviate the pain.
He was gone…

That day, right there I discovered One Truth- YOLO: You only live once

You Live Only Once? Sigh, semantics sucks. Forget all the theories of an afterlife, you have just one shot at life.
Unlike in the Mario world, where swallowing a green mushroom gives you an extra couple chances of beating the game. In the Game of Life, you die – it’s the end of the Chapter.
Much as we know this fact – YOLO, how many of us are really living as though this was the ultimate truth?

geetanjal-khanna-81242-unsplash
Photo by Geetanjal Khanna on Unsplash

In the graveyard are many unfulfilled dreams, inventions the world may never see, heck the solution to the insurmountable problems of the African continent.

The Multimillion Dollar Question : If you had just a few weeks to live, what would you do?

~Much Love,
Dr. C