full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Suleika Jaouad: What almost dying taught me about living

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But the most important thing I learned on that road trip is that the ddviie between the sick and the well — it doesn't exist. The border is porous. As we live longer and longer, surviving illnesses and injuries that would have killed our grandparents, even our pternas, the vast majority of us will travel back and forth between these realms, sdnpieng much of our lives somewhere between the two. These are the temrs of our eixecnste.

Now, I wish I could say that since coming home from my road trip, I feel fully haeled. I don't. But once I stpoepd expecting myself to return to the person I'd been pre-diagnosis, once I lnraeed to apcect my body and its limitations, I actually did start to feel better. And in the end, I think that's the trick: to stop seeing our health as binary, between sick and healthy, well and unwell, whole and broken; to stop thinking that there's some beautiful, perfect state of wellness to strive for; and to quit living in a state of constant dissatisfaction until we reach it.

Open Cloze


But the most important thing I learned on that road trip is that the ______ between the sick and the well — it doesn't exist. The border is porous. As we live longer and longer, surviving illnesses and injuries that would have killed our grandparents, even our _______, the vast majority of us will travel back and forth between these realms, ________ much of our lives somewhere between the two. These are the _____ of our _________.

Now, I wish I could say that since coming home from my road trip, I feel fully ______. I don't. But once I _______ expecting myself to return to the person I'd been pre-diagnosis, once I _______ to ______ my body and its limitations, I actually did start to feel better. And in the end, I think that's the trick: to stop seeing our health as binary, between sick and healthy, well and unwell, whole and broken; to stop thinking that there's some beautiful, perfect state of wellness to strive for; and to quit living in a state of constant dissatisfaction until we reach it.

Solution


  1. parents
  2. terms
  3. accept
  4. healed
  5. divide
  6. existence
  7. spending
  8. stopped
  9. learned

Original Text


But the most important thing I learned on that road trip is that the divide between the sick and the well — it doesn't exist. The border is porous. As we live longer and longer, surviving illnesses and injuries that would have killed our grandparents, even our parents, the vast majority of us will travel back and forth between these realms, spending much of our lives somewhere between the two. These are the terms of our existence.

Now, I wish I could say that since coming home from my road trip, I feel fully healed. I don't. But once I stopped expecting myself to return to the person I'd been pre-diagnosis, once I learned to accept my body and its limitations, I actually did start to feel better. And in the end, I think that's the trick: to stop seeing our health as binary, between sick and healthy, well and unwell, whole and broken; to stop thinking that there's some beautiful, perfect state of wellness to strive for; and to quit living in a state of constant dissatisfaction until we reach it.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
teenage girl 3
real world 2
origami crane 2
friend melissa 2
death row 2
road trip 2


Important Words


  1. accept
  2. beautiful
  3. binary
  4. body
  5. border
  6. coming
  7. constant
  8. dissatisfaction
  9. divide
  10. exist
  11. existence
  12. expecting
  13. feel
  14. fully
  15. grandparents
  16. healed
  17. health
  18. healthy
  19. home
  20. illnesses
  21. important
  22. injuries
  23. killed
  24. learned
  25. limitations
  26. live
  27. lives
  28. living
  29. longer
  30. majority
  31. parents
  32. perfect
  33. person
  34. porous
  35. quit
  36. reach
  37. realms
  38. return
  39. road
  40. sick
  41. spending
  42. start
  43. state
  44. stop
  45. stopped
  46. strive
  47. surviving
  48. terms
  49. thinking
  50. travel
  51. trip
  52. unwell
  53. vast
  54. wellness