About Progress AP 041: Christopher Clark || Creating a Happy Life, In Spite of Incurable Disease
“I do think you have to choose happiness, because it’s YOUR life. You are in control of your own personal happiness. I could lay in bed sick and angry, or I could choose to laugh . . . and make a happy life. I don’t find that it is any more difficult than it was before. My problems have just changed.”
Christopher Clark told me a story about another friend of his that was also diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's disease. When this friend's doctor told him of his diagnosis, in almost the same breath the doctor made a plea that he would not take his own life.
For many, receiving word that they have this untreatable, incurable, gradually debilitating disease is a death-sentence. For Clark, there was grieving to be sure; but there was also a determination to rise above the temptation to languish in his pain and despair, and instead to live the rest of his now-shortened life with a good amount of grace, and even more of humor.
Chris's choice to find happiness in spite it all is evident throughout this interview, which is surprisingly entertaining given the topic of our discussion. We first explore his love of acting and directing and how he eventually pursued it as his profession. He is now a professor and head of the theatre department at Utah Valley University, on top of being a well-known actor and director.
We talk about the huge transitions he and his family has faced the past year plus since his diagnosis, what physical symptoms he deals with daily, what he is the saddest about losing to his disease, what he has learned about himself through it all, and how he still finds the will to continue progressing in his personal and professional life in spite of it all.
Show Notes:
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Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas
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