WE are “born” into this world, just like the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees, the animals and every living thing.
We all have an approximate lifespan that encompasses what we do and how we live.
Even innate objects, manmade, have a life span of their own.
Near the seaside, buildings though structurally sound suffer from concrete cancer, the salt air constantly eating away the foundation of buildings and unless repaired, could be dangerous.
Seniors today rue the fact that years ago, one repaired things that broke, whereas today the old appliance is thrown away and a new one is purchased.
The mayfly is said to have the shortest lifespan of any living thing, roughly only hours, they come into the world to solely reproduce.
Some have no mouth, so they don’t need to eat due to their short stay on this earth. It seems a bit unfair though.
Other animals, reptiles and birds have limited lifespan like some frogs while a species of the chameleon has the shortest lifespan among reptiles.
So, what about us and the one thing we must face up to is the fact that we are all dying, but we don’t know when.
Those who have cancers fight on, every day there are companies exploring new ideas to fight the scourge of a disease that effects so many families.
There have been many stories of late stage cancers being halted by new drugs developed over years, coming onto the market just in time to save a life.
In the past, cancer was a linear thing, says Professor Sanchia Aranda, “You were well, then you got sick and then you died.”
Now, treatment of many cancers- particularly those that have metastasized, such as breast cancer, or those that never disappear, like multiple melanoma – is becoming similar to a chronic disease such as diabetes.
Think too of all the plagues in earlier times, how these have been almost eliminated in most countries.
Science has led to a much improved lifespan, new drugs, new ways to deal with these many ailments of our society.
Our life span is close to the mid-eighties. So diseases that were suffered before are being controlled so that we can live longer.
But all this has led to other problems, we weren’t supposed to be living this long.
The Bible mentioned that life was to be three score years and ten or 70 years.
Those of us living today will testify to 80 being the new 70.
The good news is that survival rates for all cancers are rising.
