The Day They Told Steve Jobs He'd Die - In 90 Days.
Steve Jobs always had to be in control. He wanted to know when his death would come, not just hope that he could survive the cancer. So he asked a doctor how many months he had left, and was told he might live for another year or two.
'And what if this doesn't work?' Jobs asked his doctor at the time. "If it doesn't work then we'll still have some more options," the doctor replied, counting out nine months on his fingers. "Nine." On October 5th 2011, Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer 8 months and 14 days after his 50th birthday — two years after they told him there was an outside chance of survival.
But of course he was going to die. He was never going to survive. He had no time left. His time was up. That's the message this book is about: the day they told Steve Jobs he'd die in 90 days.
You see, your life is finite, but your power is infinite. The answer is not there at the end of a tunnel when you're too tired to walk any more but rather... well, you know what the answer is by now; it's still there, waiting for you to notice it, when you're ready to admit that... nothing can ever stop you -- not while you live.
One of the questions I'm asked most is why didn't I tell Steve that he had 90 days to live? After all, I'd already told him, "You have infinite power. You can't die — there are no frontiers left." So obviously this must be a reference to death and disease, or at least cancer. And yet -- 90 days?
It seemed too short a period of time, especially compared to his life expectancy, which was only six months. Then I remembered that I was quoting friends and family members. If they were here today with me this isn't how the conversation would have gone...
"So Steve, you have infinite power and this means there are no frontiers left. No limits, that's what you said. So why don't you tell us: how much time do you have left? What's it going to be?"
One of the lessons in this book is that people are always looking for answers. They're drawn to them like moths to a flame. They know they should change their lives but they're waiting for a sign - or something magic to happen.
"Well... I don't know exactly, a few months maybe. It's hard to say. How can I tell you for sure whether I have three months or years left? What do you expect me to do, close my eyes and pluck out the number on my eyelids? Are you going to believe any old rubbish I come out with? Is that what you want me to tell you? You want me to go on some kind of weird death-bed conversion just so that it matches your own beliefs, or is there something else going on here?"
The end is not the end. The end is just the beginning. When I hear that so-and-so is "dying" my usual reply is, "I'm sorry you're getting bad news but at least it's only news. It doesn't mean that the person has to die." We make so many assumptions about life and death and finitude. But these are all just concepts because there's nothing to compare them with or measure them against.
There are no limits in the spirit world and therefore no limit on how long we can live there – unless we choose to cut our time short. This is the message of this book: There are no limits as long as you don't put any there yourself.
"And what's this 'only news'?... Surely news is the worst thing that can happen to me?"
The way I see it, news is just a tool. Like a knife, or a shovel, or a screwdriver – tools that can be used in good or bad ways. They can also be used as weapons and in murder trials. But we live in the illusion of separation and this means there are only two options: either we come from the Source, which is infinite and eternal -- so infinite that our time here will never run out -- or we come from the Source and time is not finite.
When you come from the Source you have infinite power of all kinds — you have unlimited freedom. You have the freedom to think anything because there are no boundaries in the spirit world.
Suppose you thought about these words as if they were real ideas that you had to deal with every day... things we have to accept or learn about, or impose on ourselves or others, about which we need to be knowledgeable and make decisions. How would you feel reading them? You'd probably be very angry at me for making such a ridiculous suggestion.
But if you never believed any of this, how could you be angry? And if you're only reading these words in your head and not out loud, they're not real. So what's the difference between believing them in your mind and saying them out loud? Is it just a matter of volume or localization?
Whether I read these words silently to myself or say them quietly to an imaginary audience, does that make any difference? No it doesn't — because there's nothing to compare it with. Words printed on a page have no power once I put the book away. The same goes for words spoken aloud... as soon as I stop speaking they vanish from my memory and have no more power over me.
If that makes no sense to you, then you're still living in the illusion of separation. You don't know what it's like to be infinite and eternal. In other words, you don't know what it's like to be free.
That's your choice -- either believe that life is infinite or choose not to. If you choose not to then the "end" of your story is death -- and when that happens there are no limits left to live beyond. It's just over for you... finished... "The end."
This book is an attempt to explain why I chose these words for a book about death and disease: These words are symbolic of where we come from and how we proceed from here.
When you're infinite and eternal then life is just a game -- a game of self-discovery, an exploration into the unknown. Welcome to your adventure.
"I'm glad you're so happy about it but I'm trying to find some way to fix this."
The words of those around you pose no threat. They are not real, so why would you make them a problem? It's only when these words get through to you that they become something real. When people feed ideas into your mind, whether positive or negative, they transform from an unreal idea into something that is part of who you are and part of the illusion in which we live.
Conclusion: If you want to change the world, change yourself. The rest will follow.
"That's easy for you to say but I want a cure for my cancer right now!"
You are the only one who can initiate this process of self-discovery, this adventure into the unknown. And when you get there, it's not going to be like anything you've experienced before.
Conclusion: The end is just the beginning...