Do you live a life of compassion and service? One man’s brush with death prompted to turn his thoughts about dying into meaningful action.
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Instinct is perhaps one of the most primitive yet useful assets known to man. It helps us sense trepidation, fear and even danger. It lets us know when we come to a crossroad in life–and when to weigh our odds. Instinct is a vital component of mankind’s moral compass, and if we break one small part of it, our world changes. Maybe for a short time–maybe forever.
What happens, however, when one’s moral compass does get broken? How far will you go to fix it—and what price will you be willing to pay along the way?
BJ Miller, executive director of The Zen Hospice Project, was hanging out with friends upon retuning from Thanksgiving break during his sophomore year of college, when they decided to climb on top of a commuter train. It was parked, but wires had been hanging down from it. Miller stood up atop the train–and at that moment, thousands of electrical currents shot through his arms and legs. The accident resulted in him losing one arm and both legs, which also left him with multiple disabilities.
Miller’s near death experience prompted him to educate himself on the healthcare system in America. In the process, he created a groundbreaking platform people to think about death and dying, which is the focus of his TEDTalk video above. He shares a story about a ritual that he and his staff perform when residents at their facility are dying or have died, in which they allow loved ones of the deceased to put flowers on or around the body. This is in addition to several other gestures the staff allows, in an attempt to bring a feeling of tranquility to the experience of death.
Miller points out that just because someone is suffering and dying, doesn’t mean they have to be consumed by the connotations associated with death.
“Most everyone who goes into healthcare really means well, but we who work in it are often unwitting agents for a system that too often does not serve. Why? [The answer to that question] is because healthcare was designed with diseases–not people–at its center.”
Miller uses this as a springboard to talk about the differences between necessary and unnecessary suffering, and how one, when aware of those differences, can choose whether they leave this world with bitterness or acceptance and grace. He segues into how the loss of him arm and legs became a cold, hard fact and that he eventually could no longer deny it. He could only accept it.
“It can be really good to recognize forces larger than ourselves–to bring proportionality. Like a cosmic right-sizing.”
It can be argued that Miller is challenging men, along with everyone who takes the time to watch this video, to live a life of service. Not the kind of service that requires guns and a suit, but the kind that calls for critical thinking, compassion and acceptance. It seems that once we learn to garner those attributes, we can change the world. So, what’s stopping us?
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Maikel Akkermans/Youtube