Angelina, her boobs, and fear of death.

The day I saw the first article about Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy I have to admit I thought it was some tabloid nonsense.  Then I googled ‘Angelina’ and up came dozens of articles about it.

Now I’m not going to make any comment on what she should or shouldn’t do.  Frankly it’s her body and she gets to do what she wants with it.  We all do.  Well, within reason of course.  There is no right or wrong choice here.  But it is shocking and certainly a very extreme decision to make.

My comment is about what really struck me about this – fear.   You have to have a serious fear of dying to take such drastic action.  Yup, I know that she was told by doctors that she  has a massive risk of breast cancer because of a ‘faulty’ gene.  Different research says different things about how high and realistic her risk actually was.  But either way, it was a preventative action.  I haven’t read any mentions of lumps, bumps, cancer scares.  Just tests and medical advice.  And then fear of death.

It might seem totally normal to be afraid of death, indeed terrified of it, and do anything to avoid it….but just because this is the common feeling doesn’t make it the only way or the best way. The fact that everyone eats McDonalds doesn’t make it any healthier.  And the  fact that fear of death is so common that we don’t even see how afraid everyone is of death….doesn’t make it any better a way to live.

Death has a place in life, as does illness and disease – yup, all of them.  Some of the most beautiful gifts in life come in the ugliest looking boxes.  Life is about trials, tribulations, growth and challenges as well as joy and happiness and other lovely stuff. There is a lot to learn and gain from some of the stuff life throws our way – especially the toughest things.

If someone were to take death avoidance to an extreme then we would all stop driving cars, we would stop seeing our GP (death by medicine being one of the highest causes of death in the US), and we might stop straying too far from home.

In fact if I was to consult your average doctor and buy into all they tell me about genetics (which I absolutely don’t) then I could move in to the hospital now….and have a whole bunch of bits removed, just in case.  Maybe even start taking medication to pre-empt problems that I might be told I am at a high risk of developing because of my (rather extensive and colourful) family health history – like heart disease, stroke, altzheimers, super-duper-high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer – including breast cancer (my mother has had breast cancer..before anyone says I might feel differently if it had happened in my own family)…and that’s just for starters.

This of course would be a preventative measure as I don’t have any of these things yet. I might get some of them.  All of them.  None of them.  I have to wonder whether taking these preventative measures would see me  heralded as ‘courageous’ and ‘brave’ as Angelina has been…for making what seems to be a very fear-based decision.

I prefer to trust in the thing I believe to the very core of my being – there is purpose, meaning and beauty to everything that happens in our lives.  All that comes to us is a gift – perhaps yet to be unwrapped and seen for it’s true beauty – but a gift nonetheless.  And to deny death is to deny life.  It has a point.  It has a place.  And when it comes to you, in whatever way it shows up, there will be gifts and lessons that come with it.  For you and all around you.

So for now I’ll be staying off the meds, and keeping my boobs and other body parts intact.  And making the most of each day instead, with the understanding that each day is a gift and we are not promised the next.  No matter what we try and do to safeguard against death.

Kristie

xx

Tagged as: Angelina Jolie, death, fear of death, masectomy