time, I approached to the grave where she was wrapped in a white shroud and then taken out of her coffin and put into the open grave that Asli’s grandfather had purchased for himself.
For as long as I can remember, the idea of death has never affected me. It always occurred to me as the end stage of an older person’s life. Having my young friend die without warning seemed abrupt and unreal because it was unnatural to see someone with such a great future ahead of them cut off from life in the midst of the early stages of life and success. Obviously, life and death were more complicated than I thought.
Because of the emotional impact of losing my friend, I realized the truth that death is real and closer than we think. Death is a natural and inevitable fact of our lives and no one can control it. As a result of this enlightenment and shock, I began searching for the real meaning of life and along with it, the meaning of death. However, I cannot honestly say that I found a complete explanation. The saying “Live Every Day As If It Was Your Last” made a lot more sense to me. I thought, “What would I want to change if I knew I would die soon?” And I came to then realization that my dreams; wishes and beliefs were not guaranteed. I think that children are blind to the reality of the possibilities of death because their parents orient their children towards leading lives that they think are most re then think that they have many years to achieve success and happiness. These goald do not always align with what the children want for themselves. For instance, my father is a gynecologist and, consequently, he wanted me to follow in his footsteps to become a gynecologist, as well. I kept asking myself whether this was the life I wanted for myself and every time I knew the answer before the question even popped into my head. I wanted to do something that required substantial creativity, and medicine was not it. I, therefore, pursued my dream of studying fine arts without getting distracted by my father’s expectations or the societal belief that studying art is inconsequential. One reason is that if I died unexpectedly I would have ay least loved what I was doing when I died. Children are noy encouraged yo study the Arts. …show more content…
This fact led me to be frustrated and have a lot self-doubt about they way I acted or spoke. For example, my female friends judged me for having platonic relationships with my male friend. They did not believe that we were only friends. I feel that it is my personal decision to be close to my male friends, as well as my female friends, but for a time, I withdrew from my male friends because my female friends thought that boys and girls being close without having an intimate relationship was unnatural. After a while, however, I started to realize how immature they were. I knew that I could maintain the boundaries I had in my friendships with anyone, regardless of their gender despite the reservations that other people had. To me, the fact that my friends were either boys or girls did not change the way I behaved with them. My experiences with traditionalism in my native society with both the older and newer generations allowed me to see the negative impact that conforming to traditional conventions would have on my life, and therefore, this helped me grow as a person. Lastly, and most importantly, I was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer a year ago. Overcoming this trauma was one of the hardest and most life altering experiences for me. I went through a lot of pain through chemotherapy, and I observed helplessly as my hair started falling out and my body withered away. I was too weak to attend school, and was easily fatigued. Because of the cancer surgery, I was left with two unattractive scars that would serve as reminders of my ordeal for the rest of my life. Although I cannot presume to say it was easy for me, I endured cancer without becoming pessimistic because I knew that I wanted to survive. I kept telling myself from the very beginning that this was not the end. I thought back to when Asli passed away and
For as long as I can remember, the idea of death has never affected me. It always occurred to me as the end stage of an older person’s life. Having my young friend die without warning seemed abrupt and unreal because it was unnatural to see someone with such a great future ahead of them cut off from life in the midst of the early stages of life and success. Obviously, life and death were more complicated than I thought.
Because of the emotional impact of losing my friend, I realized the truth that death is real and closer than we think. Death is a natural and inevitable fact of our lives and no one can control it. As a result of this enlightenment and shock, I began searching for the real meaning of life and along with it, the meaning of death. However, I cannot honestly say that I found a complete explanation. The saying “Live Every Day As If It Was Your Last” made a lot more sense to me. I thought, “What would I want to change if I knew I would die soon?” And I came to then realization that my dreams; wishes and beliefs were not guaranteed. I think that children are blind to the reality of the possibilities of death because their parents orient their children towards leading lives that they think are most re then think that they have many years to achieve success and happiness. These goald do not always align with what the children want for themselves. For instance, my father is a gynecologist and, consequently, he wanted me to follow in his footsteps to become a gynecologist, as well. I kept asking myself whether this was the life I wanted for myself and every time I knew the answer before the question even popped into my head. I wanted to do something that required substantial creativity, and medicine was not it. I, therefore, pursued my dream of studying fine arts without getting distracted by my father’s expectations or the societal belief that studying art is inconsequential. One reason is that if I died unexpectedly I would have ay least loved what I was doing when I died. Children are noy encouraged yo study the Arts. …show more content…
This fact led me to be frustrated and have a lot self-doubt about they way I acted or spoke. For example, my female friends judged me for having platonic relationships with my male friend. They did not believe that we were only friends. I feel that it is my personal decision to be close to my male friends, as well as my female friends, but for a time, I withdrew from my male friends because my female friends thought that boys and girls being close without having an intimate relationship was unnatural. After a while, however, I started to realize how immature they were. I knew that I could maintain the boundaries I had in my friendships with anyone, regardless of their gender despite the reservations that other people had. To me, the fact that my friends were either boys or girls did not change the way I behaved with them. My experiences with traditionalism in my native society with both the older and newer generations allowed me to see the negative impact that conforming to traditional conventions would have on my life, and therefore, this helped me grow as a person. Lastly, and most importantly, I was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer a year ago. Overcoming this trauma was one of the hardest and most life altering experiences for me. I went through a lot of pain through chemotherapy, and I observed helplessly as my hair started falling out and my body withered away. I was too weak to attend school, and was easily fatigued. Because of the cancer surgery, I was left with two unattractive scars that would serve as reminders of my ordeal for the rest of my life. Although I cannot presume to say it was easy for me, I endured cancer without becoming pessimistic because I knew that I wanted to survive. I kept telling myself from the very beginning that this was not the end. I thought back to when Asli passed away and