PRESCRIPTION FOR DYING WELL=PRESCRIPTION FOR LIVING WELL

I recently received some questionable results in two cancer screenings and the tests had to be repeated. This put me in the position of facing my own mortality, not in the abstract, but for real. I discovered that contemplating one’s own death is quite a different thing from contemplating another’s. Fortunately the tests ultimately proved negative. However the experience once again showed me that death is an amazing teacher. I wrestled emotionally with the truth that my life will not go on forever and struggled to make peace with that fact. Eventually, I found the place within me where I will need to land emotionally and spiritually when the time is truly upon me. As a result of this experience, I know it will not be easy but that I will be able to do it.

When it was all over I made a list of 6 things I needed to do in order to prepare for death. To my amazement, I discovered that this prescription for dying well is also a prescription for living well. I will share it in hopes that others may benefit:

1. LEARN TO LET GO: Death is the BIG letting go, and if we can practice the art of letting go of those things we no longer need (like anger, resentment, hostility) we’ll be more prepared to let go of life.

2. TRUST: Trust that all is well in spite of what seems, and that everything you need will be provided.

3. LIVE IN THE PRESENT: Anxiety and fear flow from worrying about things that haven’t yet happened, or happened in the past.

4. BECOME COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR FEELINGS: Allow yourself to be carried along by every emotion.

5. SURRENDER: Don’t resist things you can’t change

6. CHOOSE COURAGE OVER FEAR: We have a choice to remain courageous and present rather than dissolving into fear.

MIRACLE OF LIFE

We carry encoded in our beings a longing to reveal the secrets of life and the mysteries of death. The answers are in plain sight for all to see-we just have to open our eyes and look at the whole picture; not just snapshots of our lives.

View the span of a lifetime like you are watching the sequence of time-lapse photography…a seed is planted in the womb and an embryo grows, floating in its liquid sack of life-giving nutrients; then it’s born into the world like a fish out of water but learns to adapt to the dry land. It is a bundle of potential like the seed of a plant, and gradually it blossoms into a walking and talking toddler, then young child, then pre-teen and teenager; every phase of life another milestone which represents being born into a new stage of growth, and dying to the last. We reach full bloom in young adulthood and continue to transform as we ripen and age, until finally the bloom begins to fade.

Consider these incredible and miraculous changes. Death taught me to see them not as something to be feared but as something to be in awe of. They are so easy to miss as we fly through the business of living. When confronted with our mortality, we find ourselves taking the time to see the beauty and wonder of all we take for granted. Why wait for a crisis? Do it now , and live your life with a deeper appreciation for the wonder that it is!