A Graceful Death

     Dealing with a terminal illness can fill your head with a tornado of emotions, which can lead to the attitude of “I’ll take care of things later”. There can be so many choices and questions. My goal is to make it easier for you by gathering thoughts, information, and being a resource center for you.

1) Setting an intention for your transition can be so beautiful. 

Visual boards are great instruments. What kind of exit do you want?
What would you have to do to feel complete?
How do you want to leave this world? Consciously, peacefully, gracefully?
What was your soul growth?
What do you want to pass on?
What was this lifetime about?
What is your legacy?
What do you want to share that didn’t work for you?
How did you expand in your ability to love?
How much did you grow in learning your Life lessons?

2) Healing Relationships

How do you talk to those that don’t want to speak about death?
How to move past regret into forgiveness (for yourself and others)
Do you feel more comfortable writing letters to loved ones or does digital scrapbooking fit you better?

3) Address fears

Don’t stuff them. Feel them, acknowledge them and honor them. You are human after all. We are all scared of the unknown. If this were not true, we would all be speaking about death.

Addressing fears and becoming comfortable with death. It’s OK to have fear, pain, curiosity. Allow yourself to be comfortable with fear, especially fear of the unknown.

4) Putting your affairs in order.

Have you written a living will?
Appointed a healthcare power of attorney?
Completed an advanced directive?
Could a loved one correctly describe how you would like to be treated in the case of a terminal illness?
Is there someone you trust whom you’ve appointed to advocate on your behalf when the time is near?
If there were a choice, would you prefer to die at home or in a hospital? In addition to alleviating the patient’s comfort, palliative care can also provide an opportunity for family and friends to gather information about how an illness is likely to progress and to begin planning for long-term-care needs

Have you thought about making funeral arrangements? Music, readings, stories, flowers, casket/plot or cremation?

When was the last time you cleaned out those closets? Sometimes leaving objects of value, be it monetary or sentimental, can be a wonderful gift.
What a gift to leave your loved ones clean closets! Is all that stuff that you don’t want to go through just leaving more work for loved ones later?
Purging your home can be very healing!

These questions can be answered and information gathered with my four week coaching plan. It is presented in a bite-sized, easily digestable manner. Together we can sift through some very important information to help you and your loved ones during times that can be difficult.

In March 2003, I was married to a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from an accident on his motorcycle. He was in a coma for two and a half weeks. We had several visitors come to the hospital and express their concern.
I was just remembering how powerful I felt during that time. I really think it was because people were praying for us. People used to say, “I’ll be praying for you”. I always thought that meant they would go home and pray for me. Not so. I would instantaneously feel a surge of energy that would lift me up and make me feel light. It would even seem as though it was easier to breathe. Then there were the others that would tell me, “Ok honey, I’ll pray for you”. I felt nothing from those people who did not believe in the power of their prayers. They would say the words because it was the right thing to say.
I really don’t think some people are more powerful than others when it comes to praying. I believe if you sincerely wish well and have good intentions for a person then that prayer does not know time and will be felt by the recipient immediately.
When you tell someone you will pray for them, remember how truly powerful you are. Your well wishes and thoughtful prayers have so much more power when you authentically send them with meaning and intention.