One of the first things we did in class this week was check in with each other. We were all quite stressed out about graduation and planning for life after undergrad. I think we all found some comfort in sharing our worries. College can be so isolating at times when we move from thinking about one deadline to the next. It helps to just express our thoughts to one another and realize, we are all going through the same things one way or another. We then did a book presentation for the first part of John Leland’s book Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old. Leland writes about the life experiences of six elders he spoke with over the course of a year. Most of the elders he spoke with were content with their lives. They valued simple things like spending time with people they were close to, nurturing those relationships and engaging in pleasurable activities. Despite facing challenges, they continued to enjoy life and make the most of what they have. After reading the book, I realized that I should also try to be more present and not dwell on the past or worry too much about the future. During the presentation, we had a long discussion on the question, “At what point do you honor your loved ones wish for DNR over your own desire to keep them alive?”. I had never given this question much thought earlier but after our class conversation, I realized how important it is to have these difficult conversations about the future with our family members. Our class conversation also reinforced one of the takeaways from Leland’s book, that we must appreciate the present- the people we love and who are with us right now.
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Jayati SharmaWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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