When I lend my friend Markus a book or a movie I know that I'll never get it back. In that sense giving away an organ is similar. I know that someone else will enjoy what used to be mine and that's completely okay. I don't need it anymore. If I'm dead I'm hardly going to need eyes or lungs. The same goes for a book I've read. Let Markus keep it.
Of course it can be scary thinking about the fact that I'm going to die. And maybe that's why a lot of people don't become donors. It's like a post-it tattooed with our own mortality. Not that it's news or anything, but we don't want to hear it. We cover our ears with shaky hands and sing ABBA's Waterloo to drown out the thought of dying.
Or you can suppress the thought and just do it. I went to www.livsviktigt.se. There I read about a six year-old boy passing away. But his organs had given life to six other people. That's as if Markus lent my book to another six people who each got to read it. That would mean eight people got to read a book and only one had to pay for it. That has to count as a win.
BONUS: www.livsviktigt.se
Required time:
Ten minutes tops to fill in the form.
Cons:
None I can think of.
Pros:
Other people can live on. You'll leave a strong impression and a powerful memory when you die. It's an unselfish and compassionate act that also can inspire others to do the same.
