The Natural Cycle of Life

Like being born, dying is an integral part of living.

Intellectually, we all know this. But few among us will admit how hard it is to thoroughly and honestly deal with the issue of death. And still fewer of us have ever examined and really considered the process of dying.

My experience with this subject has taught me the importance of the following: Conscious preparation for death is life affirming and will be a gift of ease and grace in a challenging time for yourself, your family and friends. 

None of us were given a preventative maintenance book about how to live our lives well. Thus, few of us know the value of investing time, energy, and money in self-care, self-empowerment and self-awareness. In the book of living well, too many folks want to skip the last chapter about end-of-life choices.

As a grief and loss specialist for more than 30 years, I have observed too many times when a person’s lack of preparation for the end of his or her life has resulted in unnecessary complications. And then under duress, people find themselves and their loved ones trying to understand, anticipate, and make life-affirming decisions.

Anticipating your preferences about living well and dying well requires an investment of time, energy and money. When this is done early on in life, the outcomes become your living legacy, thus the maintenance book of your life and death, makes choices unfold lovingly and gracefully. Instead of creating a complicated guessing game about what you or your loved ones may want, spending the time and effort to develop choices now will be the gift that keeps on giving, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually to your loved ones.