I am beyond thrilled that you and your dad are alive.

Thank you so much for making your TED talk available to all of us here on steemit; it was so powerful. I commend you for taking the stance on life that you have.

Years ago, my now-ex-husband had cancer; the doctors found it accidentally, and if they hadn't, he wouldn't be here today. He had a kidney removed and swore that he was a changed man, so thankful for this second chance. He was no longer going to live at work, and promised to spend more time with his family. My father-in-law, having survived quadruple bypass years earlier said to him, "Don't worry, that will pass". And unfortunately it did.

At the time I was so sad for him, because he was given a wake up call and chose to let it go to voicemail, instead falling back on his old routines...living life with his eyes closed.

I have always lived my life with my eyes wide open and have tried to really touch, taste, smell, hear every single thing throughout my day. I taught high school at a Fine Arts school and was so blessed to be around creativity on a daily basis. And music! It's the best anti-depressant around.

My current husband is exactly like me and we've lived 50 years in our 7 years together. He unfortunately has cancer and the prognosis is poor. We decided to sell everything and move from Canada to Mexico with two backpacks, a suitcase and our cat, and simply live. There's so many people who question our decision and I can't tell you how many times I've been asked, "but what do you do all day?", and they can't understand it when I say things like, "stand on my balcony and feel the ocean breeze on my face", or "float on my back in the ocean and just be".

It really is a sad state of affairs...the amount of people who somehow have ended up on an endless hamster wheel, overworked and wearing it like a badge of honour. They've forgotten how to live, and your TED talk here is a wonderful reminder to so many, to do just that.

Thank you again; it really was wonderful.