The Power of 7 Days: How to Live a Happy & Meaningful Life
My brother after his brain surgery
My brother and I one month before he passed
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
HOW QUICKLY DID THE PAST 7 DAYS GO BY? Did you take them for granted, treating each day as one of many in an endless stream of days? My brother Ced didn't have that luxury, at least not after he began fighting his Sarcoma cancer.
In January 2017, approximately 9 months after Ced began his battle with cancer, the doctors lost all hope and sent him home to get his affairs in order. At the young age of 27, he never thought he’d need to prepare his will and find a palliative care center.
The following day, I made my way to my brother’s home, the new home he’d just built with his fiancé. As we sat down with coffee in hand, just the two of us, we began talking about life. About what truly matters: family, friends and finding meaning in life. Not once did we mention the stock market, status, or cars.
WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT AND MEANINGFUL IN LIFE?
After a few minutes, we both fell silent as we watched the fire crackling in his fireplace. I was struggling to find the right words to say. What do you say to your brother who was just told he would die in a few days? At 25 years old, just two years younger than him, I wasn’t prepared for this. I guess, one never really is.
Ced broke the silence by turning the TV on. He opened YouTube and began searching for his favourite motivational videos. He watched these videos when he needed the motivation to keep fighting his cancer. They helped him regain perspective and focus on his purpose; get rid of this cancer and get back to living life to the fullest with his loved ones.
His favourite motivational video was “Why do we fall” created by Mateusz M. After going down a rabbit hole of motivational videos, he turned the TV off and told me how unfair it all felt to him. He felt like it was easy to get motivated to achieve a certain professional or financial goal, but how do you get motivated when even the doctors have abandoned you? He said something I’ll never forget:
““I don’t have any of those professional or financial goals right now. All I want, all I pray for with all my heart, is 7 days to live. 7 days without this freaking tumor in my head so I can enjoy life. We’d go on a trip with the entire family and we’d have the best time of our lives. 7 healthy days with the people I love. That’s all I ask… I would give anything to have that.””
7 HEALTHY DAYS TO LIVE
7 days felt like nothing to me at the time. Take a minute and ponder on how quickly the last 7 days went by. Having a bad week? No problem, I’ll have a better one next week, or I’ll enjoy life next quarter when things get better.
Ced’s words echoed in my head: "7 healthy days with the people I love. It’s all I ask… I would give anything to have that.” It was a gut-wrenching reminder that we often take our days for granted, yet they’re never guaranteed.
I told him we’d have many 7 days to enjoy life and go on trips with the family. I told him it wasn’t over yet, he was still here. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if I should have better prepared my brother for the inevitability of death. I probably should have. But he still had hope and he was fighting with all his being to stay alive. It felt wrong to talk about death when all he wanted was life.
IT’S ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE
We never got to take that trip.
Ced passed away a few days later, on January 20, 2017. We had 2 more days of chatting as we sipped coffee and watched a fire crackling in his living room. After those 2 somber, yet joyful days, the tumour in his brain prevented him from speaking and moving.
Those conversations changed my perspective on what 7 days mean (although it would take me years to process that new perspective).
Stop taking a full week for granted. Life throws a lot at us, and some days are hard. I get it. Even on your toughest days, when you find yourself saying “I can’t wait until tomorrow” or “I can’t wait until the weekend”, find something that gives you perspective. Look at a picture of someone you lost. Look at your kid or your dog and change your perspective.
Don’t let 7 days slip by like it’s nothing. It’s EVERYTHING.
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