He truly lived with it and was at peace with the journey. He recommends we just live life, do our best, and enjoy the moments that life brings. He reminds us that we get to choose the world we want to live in-a house of fear and constriction or a house of mystery and creativity.
This attitude can help decrease our fear of death, the ultimate unknown. He explores the need to feel that we have control over our lives and how liberating it can be to accept that we have none. He writes with a clarity that makes the complex subjects of Shamanic Breathwork, Neuroimagination and understanding the shadow side of ourselves accessible to the reader.Īs Lipsenthal deals with his chemotherapy, he shares a meditation exercise that helps lessen his experience of pain and suffering. There is a hypnotic quality to his writing as he describes his transformation from living a life of stress and fear to letting go of control and accepting the mystery of life. Their sweet story of a medical school courtship stayed with me long after I finished the book and made the outcome even more poignant. Lipsenthal is a wonderful storyteller and starts his book with the amazing story of how he dreamed of his wife before they met 30 years ago. Lipsenthal’s upbeat, quest for understanding life as he faced death doesn’t dwell on his cancer symptoms, but instead focuses on gratitude for savoring this “sandwich of life.” At the same time, despite knowing his life would never be the same, he felt an unexpected sense of calm acceptance. Gratitude helps keep life fluid.Īfter receiving his diagnosis, his first thought was how to break the news to his wife, Kathy, also a physician, and their two teenage children. He meditated everyday for the last twenty years and practiced gratitude by writing down things he was grateful for every night. That statement struck Lipsenthal as simple and profound and he used it in his talks about life balance.Īn internist trained in the prevention of heart disease, Lipsenthal was the medical director of Dean Ornish’s Preventive Medicine Research Institute for a decade. During a guest appearance on the David Letterman show, Zevon explained that in the process of dying, he learned to enjoy every sandwich. The book title was inspired by singer and songwriter Warren Zevon, who died of cancer in 2003. His hope was that it would “open the door for all of us to embrace our humanity, accept uncertainty, and live a life of gratitude whether we are facing the end now or not.”
In his touching book, Enjoy Every Sandwich: Living Each Day As If It Were Your Last, Lipsenthal shared his journey of transcending his fear.
Lee Lipsenthal was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2009, he decided to write his thoughts about healing the fear of death.
0 kommentar(er)
