OUR WORLD
sharing your wishes with your family and medical providers. This is one of the most important
aspects related to your planning endeavors.
The best time to plan for
later is NOW
with special nuance (think doves, butterflies,
uplifting music choices from your life history).
Let this be a connection to your living heart and
your everlasting spirit.
• Well-orchestrated, pre-determined funerals encourage healing and heartfelt remembrance for
those left behind. Wise funeral planning also
includes writing your own obituary, a reflective
task that tells the world who you are, who you
love and what is significant about your amazing
life. You’d be surprised to see the immeasurable
gratitude this elicits from your survivors!
• From family trees, archiving family history, to
logging important family medical information
and financial information-each is a vital and
unique piece of the final affairs planning puzzle-including itemizing meaningful personal
mementos, family heirlooms and sharing family customs. Defining who gets what in advance
can circumvent family quarrels and conflict
because wishes have been clearly conveyed.
Planning and recording all these matters in advance prevents indecision, infighting, and hurt
feelings that often plague families.
• In “putting your house in order,” this presents a
perfect opportunity to also release those items
you no longer need, that don’t contribute to
your joy and welfare any more, and that would
only be left for your family to sort through and
discard. Find other places (shelters, thrift shops,
direct donations to others, etc.)---where your
“things” can be loved and appreciated--a wonderful uplifting feeling knowing they have gone
on to bring joy to someone else. And a relief to
your survivors!
• While there are many areas of comprehensive final affairs planning, one area not to overlook is
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• Yet, there is also a chance for you to impact not
only your own healing, but the healing of your
loved ones. Besides leaving a written legacy of
your life for them to have as a warm and loving memorial to you, there is an opportunity
to write letters to individual family members
and friends, a beautiful “gift” to those you love,
when you are no longer present to do so. Explanations of your decisions, wishes for their
future, encouragement, wisdom, requests for
family to stay connected, letters to the future
bride or grandchildren yet to be born.... You can
impact their lives long after you are gone.
In writing my book, Sunrises and Sunsets, Final Affairs Forged with Flair, Finesse, and FUNctionality, I
was determined to take the trepidation out of endof-life planning and actually make the process engaging and fun. The secret recipe for richer enjoyment and deeper satisfaction is ensuring all areas
of advance care planning are achieved now...well
before the crisis point. Completing these important
initiatives must be done while you are capable of
making these paramount decisions independently and with a positive and optimistic outlook. The
best time to plan for later is now. Doing so certainly
allows for renewed spiritual advancement and encourages fa Z[X[[]