If you are reading this, you are here. Five years ago today I went to a peaceful sleep at the hands of a fine anesthesiologist only to wake up a few hours later in the most intense pain I have ever felt before or after, following an intricate brain surgery to save my life. My brain surgeon was superb. There were many questions to consider before the surgery like: Would I wake up? Would I live via machine? Would I be the same person? How badly would I be disabled? I did have to experience great pain. I did have to learn to walk again. I did have weird and life-threatening complications. My goal was to make it five years. I am here.

So many people helped me through in so many ways, sometimes simply by being with me. I am forever indebted and my support for health care workers is boundless. They help us to arrive and remain here. How we choose to react to being here, however, is up to us. Circumstances will certainly be thrown at us, sometimes due to our own choices but often unfairly. We can choose what to believe about it though: Fate? God’s Will? A roll of the dice? Universal connectedness playing out? Meaninglessness? It is up to you how you see it. Free will. But one thing that is undeniable is that you are here, right now (to paraphrase Ram Dass). Circumstance likely will dictate particular aspects of your life. How you think about them and your place in the here and now is ultimately yours despite how you may have been conditioned to think. That can feel like a great responsibility or a beautiful thought. What resonates with you? What signifies meaning, and why? What are you here to learn? During my medical crises I had what would be called a Near-Death Experience (NDE). Life, death, and all of it stares you squarely in the face. But I do not believe that is something fearful. All I can say is that our time here is limited greatly, what will you do with it and how will you think about it? Or don’t.

Here with much love,
Keefer