On the basis of a recommendation some while ago from a friend I finally got round to watching Patch Adams staring Robin Williams last night. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the movie, I would heartily recommend it as I thought it was absolutely excellent. It is about a guy that after spending years in a mental institution (he checked himself in after feeling suicidal) decides to leave and train to become a doctor. It is based upon a true story and Adams is obviously a remarkable human being. He wasn’t interested in just treating the patients symptoms and moving on. He wanted to know their names, their dreams and to really connect with them and help improve their quality of life whether they recovered or not.
There was a scene near the end where he has to defend his rather eccentric behavior in front of the University Trustees that were considering expelling him at the Deans request. It was a marvelous scene tailor made for a genius like Robin Williams to get the most out of and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
There was one line that struck me like a freight train and I have been playing it over and over in my head today because I think it is so prescient. Not only does it fit perfectly within that scene but I also think if used properly can have an enormously positive effect on anybodies life and be used as a catalyst to self-development.
Death is not the enemy
That may seem a strange thing to pluck out in isolation and give it such a huge build up, so let me explain why I think it is useful.
We are all going to die. You, me, all our families and all our friends. In fact in less than 150 years (maybe a bit more if you are very young and exceptionally healthy) there is a good chance that there will be nobody on this earth that ever met you! It’s a sobering thought but nothing that we can do much about.
Most people whether they care to admit it or not are afraid of death. Why is that? Why be afraid of something that happens to millions of people every month? Nobody has ever said it was worse than they expected!
I think the real crux of peoples fear is not that they will die but that they will die feeling unfulfilled.
If you happen to squeeze every last drop out of a long life, why would you ever fear dying?
On the other hand, if you never quit that job you hate, take the time out for those that you love, visit that country that has always called you, learn to fly, help those in need, join that gym, learn that foreign language or whatever else it is that you know you really passionately want to do, then of course you are going to be scared. Is there anything in life worse than the feeling that we are not making the most of it, that we are wasting the one and only opportunity we have?
Death really isn’t the enemy because we can never defeat it; it’s simply (excuse the oxymoron) a fact of life. Look for the real enemies in your life such as inertia, apathy and procrastination and deal with them now so that you have no regrets later. To the best of my knowledge nobody ever lay on their deathbed and muttered “At least I got to see the re-runs of Deal or No Deal” or even “At least I made budget” but millions die wishing they had followed their heart a bit more.
