About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas . I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that was incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which was doctor's code for preparing to die. It meant to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It meant to make sure everything was buttoned up so that it would be as easy as possible for your family. It meant to say your goodbyes. I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy . I was calm, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now. This is the closest I've been to facing death. No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by the principle -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. _ somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. The impression the author gave readers is that   _  .
he was so optimistic that the incurable illness wouldn't bring him down. he could leave death alone and had enough courage to become what he wanted to. he was so determined that he wasn't scared at death. he was such a responsible man that he prepared well before he died.