Your Own Life

Oliver Sacks comes to terms with his death. Nine years after he had surgery to remove a tumor from his eye (ocular melanoma), he informed that he has multiple metastases in his liver. He is face to face with dying and understands at this point he cannot be saved.

Sacks write about what he is going to do, "It is up to me now to choose how to live out the months that remain to me." Encouraged by the late philosopher, David Hume, Sacks says "I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can." Trying not to waste any of the little time he has left, Sacks writes about how life really is short and that although we waste a lot of time, we should really try and savor all the time we have here on earth. 

"It is the fate of every human being, to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death." 

He's come to the realization that he has lived a full life, achieved so many things, experienced so much, and understands that there will never be anyone like him, ever. Just like there will only ever be one me and one you in all of existence. That our journey as a human is to embrace our individuality, to follow our path in life, to live, and to finally die. This is a fate of all humans.