Book Review: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

What This Book Taught Me About Life and Death

Thoughts

I had an urge to read a nonfiction book and started the audiobook of ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi. I finished the book in tears. Genuinely. I can’t say that about many books that I’ve read. It really did unravel feelings inside me I wasn’t aware of.

Dr Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon, mentions attending to his many patients. How odd it felt that now he was the patient with stage 4 lung cancer. He describes his conflicting feelings about being a patient, the meaning of life and his family.

Life Is Precious

First and foremost, I learnt not to take life for granted. One day you can be living, blessed with a healthy mind and body, until you don’t. All it takes is one diagnosis, one incident, for it all to turn upside down. You are precious, your loved ones are precious. You do not own time. Spend as much of it making beautiful memories with them. Connect with them, pray with them, be there for them and support one another through difficult times.