Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

There’s A Lot I Can Do With My Life

There’s A Lot I Can Do With My Life

I don’t think that I have endless opportunities for what I can do with my life, do you?

I mean, sure.

I have options – maybe even more options than most.

But windows of opportunity start to close as the years go by.

The world of endless possibilities that you saw in your youth begins to look further and further away.

Push come to shove, I still think I could do nearly anything if I had to.

I still think I could go back to law school, get an engineering degree, start a hedge fund, or move to Switzerland.

It’s just that that likelihood of each is going down every year.

This is such a good reminder to not get stuck – you can remake your life today if you have to (or want to).

Don’t ever feel trapped.

“With chemo, our main decision will be carboplatin versus cisplatin. In isolated studies, head-to-head, carboplatin is better tolerated. Cisplatin has potentially better results but much worse toxicity, especially for the nerves, though all the data is old, and there’s no direct comparison within our modern chemo regimens. Do you have any thoughts?” “I’m less worried about protecting my hands for surgery,” I said. “There’s a lot I can do with my life. If I lose my hands, I can find another job, or not work, or something.” She paused. “Let me ask this: Is surgery important to you? Is it something you want to do?” “Well, yes, I’ve spent almost a third of my life preparing for it.”

-Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air (Amazon)

Aiding A Life Transition

Aiding A Life Transition

I feel like a husband and father is built for aiding major life transitions like this.

Of course, I’m old-fashioned like that – expecting men to protect and guide their families…

Good-grief, I think half the reason men were put on this earth was to protect women and children.

To the extent they are not doing that, men are failing.

And forget what I think should be done with men that prey on women and children…

Nobody, however, is built for being the object of transitions like this.

Nobody wants to get sick and say goodbye.

One chapter of my life seemed to have ended; perhaps the whole book was closing. Instead of being the pastoral figure aiding a life transition, I found myself the sheep, lost and confused. Severe illness wasn’t life-altering, it was life-shattering. It felt less like an epiphany—a piercing burst of light, illuminating What Really Matters—and more like someone had just firebombed the path forward. Now I would have to work around it.

-Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air (Amazon)

Sterling Terrell