16/02/2026
As medical students, we were introduced to Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-American Psychiatrist, through her proposed "five stages" model of grief, as a pattern of adjustment: denial – anger – bargaining - depression – acceptance. It was a part of her book named “ On Death and Dying”, published in 1969.
I always admired the way she interpreted the concept of death, loss and grief. When going through her biography, I came across the following quote:
“It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up — that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
I love reading quotes, not just because they sound nice, but because they capture the essence of a life lesson imbibed by a person over the years, in just a few lines. They change our perspectives forever, they touch our lives and open new windows in our minds. You start seeing the world through a whole new lens.
As a Neurologist and especially while working with neurodegenerative disorders, we often deal with families who struggle to come to terms with the morbid nature and the consequences of these incurable disorders. Unknowingly, as physicians, we break away from the boundaries of ‘optimism’ or ‘ pessimism ‘ and become realists. We look for the light at the end of the tunnel, yet acknowledge the long, seemingly unending darkness of the tunnel.
There are days when you come across individuals and families who have accepted the inevitable, yet they unleash their strongest version and create magic. It is when they realize the finite period of existence, that they realize their infinite potential. They break their limiting notions. They don’t shudder at the word ‘death’, they face it with all their might.
Life is finite, and our potential is huge.
Why not live our dream lives?
Why not create a masterpiece?
Why not make this world a better place?
