When people talk about someone who has recently died, they often say that this person “lost the battle.” As in, “he lost his battle with cancer.”
I don’t like that phrase.
By talking about death in terms of “losing a battle,” it makes it sound as if there’s something the person could have done differently, or done better, in order to stay alive longer. This is not always the case. Sometimes illness comes on quickly, relentlessly, with no time to adjust.
Of course, there are always things that each of us can do to live healthy and stave off illness, but you also hear about people who’ve never smoked a day in their life who get lung cancer. There are horrible diseases like ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) that have no known cause or cure. 50,000 Americans die in car accidents every year – many of whom were sober and wearing seat belts.
We all die. It’s going to happen to every one of us. We’re all going to “lose a battle” someday.
