Do we all have two lives?
This is what Confucius says, and that the second begins when we understand that we only have one. Mine started when I got cancer at 17.
A tumor in a bed.
Yes, the size of a tennis ball, and the first thing I heard from a doctor was that they had to cut it out. Despite everything, and that I was in a hospital for a year, I have a good memory of it.
Because?
I was intimate with many children. I was the oldest in the pediatric oncology ward and I enjoyed entertaining them. Unfortunately, many died, it happens every moment on the planet.
what changed
My way of seeing life: you are not the only one who suffers, build with what you have. I couldn’t leave there and complain about routine life when I had lived with children who died in the next room.
…
It’s hard to remember his last look, and we don’t even want to think that this is happening every moment. Death is not something that corresponds to old age, but can come at any time. I want to take advantage of the time, I want and I have to have the best time.
He was cured of cancer and his mother died.
We were very close. My mother suffered a lot from my illness and cancer did kill her. I was 21 years old. My father died when I was two years old, also from cancer.
Sorry, it’s a very hard life.
I continue to consider myself privileged. I continue to fight the disease, but I have no symptoms and can enjoy life, which mom and dad can’t do anymore.
His leg wasn’t working.
I have a piece of artificial femur and barely any muscle. An eminence saved my leg and I was able to enjoy unimaginable things.
He ended up running ultramarathons.
I never thought I could run a kilometer, getting better was a reward. I ended up doing mountain runs and then getting on the bike not knowing if my leg would fail.
But what changed in his mind?
After what I’ve been through, the predatory dynamics of city life, not having time to see friends, those voracious routines that cause a void, and the unhappiness I saw around me, pushed me to something different: traveling the world.
Have you ever thought about it?
I thought that to travel the world you needed a lot of money, but I set out to cross Spain by bike and I have already accumulated nine years around the planet.
What surprised you the most?
The humanity of many people, who have given me so many emotional and rich moments.
We urbanites have the feeling that the world is hostile and dangerous.
I thought so too. Fear is the biggest disabler in our life. Being close to death made me appreciate that those fears were ephemeral.
He is going through his third cancer.
Two and a half years ago I had colon cancer and now one with a poor prognosis, a peritoneal carcinomatosis that we treat with chemotherapy, but luckily I’m not feeling bad. Everything that comes is a gift. I have learned to accept these situations.
Many will see their life as a series of misfortunes.
I’ve learned to adapt, to accept setbacks. It’s been nine years since I fulfilled a dream. If life is made of emotions, I couldn’t find any other way to collect more.
What are you looking for?
May every day be intense, good feelings that last in my memory. Motivation and passion can take you where you never thought possible. I enjoy the uncertainty, not knowing what’s around the next bend.
What is important in life?
The essential is in the most basic things, for example, the people we love and that sometimes, in this society, we cannot dedicate the time it requires.
Is true.
We should be able to have a coffee with a friend without it being an event, give him a hug. We don’t have time, but we have a world full of distractions.
We postpone it.
We need to take time to ask ourselves questions, to reflect on how we feel, what we want to do with our time, why we are angry or can’t sleep. I have very young friends who take sleeping pills, a symptom of the neurosis of this society.
He is right.
Our mind associates death with old age. But unfortunately, when you live with it, you know it can come at any moment. And this makes you touch the ground, know how to appreciate every moment and not procrastinate. Put a date on your plans, on your motivation, because living is a very short walk.
