[fellowniusmonk]

I was born with multiple heart defect. I've had so many surgeries I wasn't sure I'd wake up from, in fact my first surgery was at 3 and is my first memory, for a couple weeks out of every year I practically live at a cardiologist.. it's funny talking about waiting for a package. Most things roll off my back but waiting.. for packages, waiting in line, etc. drive me nuts.

I could die at any second, I want to experience all the things, I'm eager to live.

I think when you really are inescapably a dead man walking your priorities change but not in the same way as a healthy person who is freshly confronted by their mortality. It's two distinct paths of human experience.

Life goes on and nothing has meaning unless you ascribe meaning to it. It feels to me that most people forget to live, they don't even know what they value, they don't know what life or world constitutes a beautiful life/world to them.

[BigHatLogan]

Geez--that sounds rough. I literally cannot imagine what that must be like (and hope I never have to). Good luck with everything.

Haha--I'm glad you also brought up the packages and waiting in line. It's such a strange annoyance. Like you said, you experience multiple surgeries per year, yet you still experience the same frustration with the packages! I find that incredibly...reassuring is the word that comes to mind. That hopefully means I'm not just some impatient, sulky person, and that we all experience similar day-to-day annoyances, no matter who we are or what our situation is.

Has having the heart defect had a noticeable "outcome" in your life? I guess what I mean is: Do you feel you've made different, better, more conscious choices about school, career, friendships, relationships, etc. due to your having this condition? I think most of us imagine that if we were suddenly diagnosed with a terrible illness or condition, we'd probably start immediately prioritizing things, maybe even quit our jobs, etc. But I'm also suspicious if that's really true. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

[fellowniusmonk]

The short answer is as far as I can tell, fundamentally yes, in almost every facet. I guess I could give the cliff notes otherwise it would be a 10 page wall of text to unpack.

[Abishek_Muthian]

Been in and out of operation theaters all my life too but the latest one had the largest impact on how I see the life.

Hours before my spine surgery which had 50-50 survival and was needed to stop me from becoming a quadriplegic I was typing documentation for strategy for my startup products to my share holders in case I die.

After I woke up from surgery, The first major decision I took was to close my startup.

[agumonkey]

A lot of human life is dilluted in our group/system.

Trying to reach out for more is high risk high efforts and I believe our biology mostly tailored us to coast.

Less work more safety sounds like an obvious evolutionary benefit.

That said it's not necessarily the best way to live.