
PART 1 ARTICLE 15 AUDIO FILE IN FOOTER ♫
Amid a diagnosis of autoimmune disease—an unexpected complication tied to the lingering impacts of COVID 19 — I find myself drawn to the memory of a hauntingly beautiful blue cave in Croatia. Unclear as to what I might discover on this mysterious journey, I have concerns, of course; uncertainty, by its nature daunting.
Canoeing through a fog at the cave’s entrance, my mind shapes the insidious COVID virus into a monstrous form. Now a visible, grotesque entity twisting my immune system against itself is a dark metaphor for autoimmune disease, when the immune system, once a protector, turns against the body it was meant to defend.
But the boat goes on as they say, birthing me into a mesmerizing royal blue ether where the rhythmic ebb and flow of symptoms parallel waves on the shore. This is the only way a confused body can communicate its status, a new norm that demands resilience and mindfulness.
As the cave’s depths shift from blue to teal, a strange lightness overtakes me. I feel my denial of mortality slipping away into the black depths below. Mortality, once a terrifying prospect, now feels like a natural part of life’s cycle – something that demands acceptance rather than fear.

A bright ray of sunlight appears through a fracture in the cave’s surface, completely entrancing me with the dappled, diamond-like appearance of the water. At that moment, I realized that the acceptance of my mortality is a mysterious yet invaluable gift, feeling mortality’s grip loosen as I embrace its inevitability.
Gifts of acceptance, of light amid darkness, have come before—and I trust they will again. By accepting that death will surely come in its own time, for everyone, it loses its power. Mortality is inevitable, but it loses its grip when we embrace it with acceptance. This epiphany, the freeing release from fear of the end, compels me to share the essential truths I’ve come to treasure.
Live every moment fully, even amid adversity. Embrace the cycles of life as they evolve. With each chapter, redefine what “living fully” means, for it’s in that acceptance that real resilience lies.
If you carry a life’s purpose, act with urgency to deliver it, as time is never promised. If you don’t have one, get one. Focus on mending fences and granting forgiveness as all you want to leave in your wake is love, pure and simple.
Your life, whether it lasts a week, or a hundred more years will benefit more than you can possibly imagine by infusing these simple messages into your very being. Acceptance of both the beauty and brevity of life is essential to living fully
Whether I live one more day or persist into my nineties (which wouldn’t surprise me in the least), my purpose remains: to embody and share these messages. Mortality is the ultimate unifier, a fact that binds us all as we navigate this mysterious human journey together.

And please — no sympathy or “poor Christa.” When all is said and done, we all float in the same canoe.