Doctors from Cam Khe District Medical Center (Phu Tho) examine a patient – Photo: BVCC
Whether we like it or not, everyone has to go to the hospital at some point in their lives when their health is unstable. And when we are in that situation, we realize that this place contains many nuances of life worth contemplating.
Reader Phan Thanh Cam Giang’s feelings while in the hospital add another perspective to this story.
During the days in the hospital treating the illness that had been with me for many years and that I had neglected, I just remembered that all this time I had been rushing into the cycle of life regardless of my own health.
Now, when the body is exhausted, it is impossible to do anything, even the smallest thing.
Lying in the emergency room, looking around, we can see the value of life.
Some people self-destruct because of work pressure or love problems. There are also young people who, without family supervision, rush into speed games, causing their bodies to become unhealthy.
And many people, when on the brink of life and death, try to hold on to every precious moment with their loved ones, only to realize that life is inherently impermanent, and sometimes we don’t realize it enough to appreciate it.
On the bed next to him was the emaciated figure of an old man lying alone without any children or grandchildren to care for him. Next to him, an old woman turned inward, trying to hold back her tears of resentment at being a burden to her children and grandchildren.
There are those who hold their children close to their chests to overcome each pain of illness. Then there are couples who, when one of them is at the threshold of life and death, clear all the misunderstandings in their marriage.
Seeing those scenes, I realized that there is nothing in life that I cannot let go of. I realized that everything in life and death is trivial.
Nowhere does the reality of human life reflect more truly than in a hospital. When witnessing a patient’s final moments, can we still think of the illusory fame and fortune out there?
All returns to dust.
Before collapsing due to poor health, I realized that I had been struggling to get by in this life. When I stood on the line between life and death, the things I had tried my best to achieve while neglecting my health now seemed trivial.
During the days in the hospital, I suddenly realized that having enough food and clothes, a good health, and freedom from illness and disaster are blessings in a human life.