Life is a complex topic, and other people far more knowledgeable than me have tried and failed to understand life. I don’t claim to have figured it out. This chapter is only a synthesis of what I have learned about life through my own contemplation, experience of encountering life-death decisions everyday in clinical practice, and given the nature of my clinical specialty, probably being among the top few percents of people who have been in the company of many people that are about-to-die.

Although I work with patients with cancer, deal with death routinely in my clinical practice, and have faced several difficult times in my life, I believe that life is inherently beautiful and that the beauty of life is life itself. No matter how hard the circumstances might seem to be, or how difficult life becomes or how numerous threats have been posed in life or by life, life is always a gift. It’s a blessing.

Life begins with birth and clearly, our birth in itself is a gift. When we were born, 200 million sperms competed for the prize of that one ovum, and we won over those 199999999 (a tiny bit better odds for twins and triplets). That’s why we are here. Any other sperm and it would have been someone different and not us. During pregnancy, there were so many risks to us and our mother. We could have been aborted (spontaneous or induced), we could have been born premature, post mature, born with defective lungs, defective hearts, we could have asphyxiated, mutated, have Down’s–endless possibilities of dying soon after birth. After that we could have leukemia, retinoblastoma, or die of simple pneumonia—countless possibilities of dying by the age of 1, 5, and teenage. While young, we could have died of accidents (drunk driving), malignancies, war, suicide–again numerous chances. While elderly, the list will include almost every disease. While I am writing this article, nearly 110 people are dying every minute in this world. About 2 people are dying every second. Just think about it- 2 people in the world die every second! Unbelievable! So, you see, life is very precious. We are blessed because we have seen this day. You are lucky because you are alive today and you are reading these lines. You could have passed away years earlier and not have seen this world. But you are here and that’s the beauty of it. Each day is a blessing.