We seldom talk about death as it feels like a taboo subject.  However, research has shown that people wished they were better prepared for it.  Early preparation takes away a lot of guilt or uncertainty from your family and friends.  This allows closure of any unfinished business or family feuds so that we can spend the rest of the remaining time enjoyable and memorable.   

Click to watch Life Eternal’s video on Acceptance of Death

Here are a few ways that you can prepare better:

Picture your own death

Find a comfortable space to sit down or lie down and let your mind wander into this experience. Picture how the experience of death will be like for you.  At this point, you can discuss with your family how you would like your funeral to look like.  Choose your favourite songs or hymns. It is also a good time to explore any beliefs about the afterlife and to imagine how the world will be like without you.

Acknowledge your feelings and allow yourself to grieve

You may feel a lot of emotions such as sadness, anger, loneliness, fear or regret.  Acknowledge these feelings and allow yourself time to grieve. Once you have accepted the impeding loss and processed these emotions, you will gain a sense of peace and acceptance and feel the weight of responsibility finally lifted.

Take Action

After this, you might want to take action on how you can make this process easier for people around you after your death, such as:

• Write a will as fairly as you can to prevent family arguments later on
• Have a care plan for when you are not able to look after yourself
• Catch up with your old friends or relatives whom you may not have seen for a long time
• Create a bucket list of things you always wanted to do
• Plan your funeral the way you want it

Second Chance

Assess your emotions after you went through the steps above.  Have your values or priority changed?  You may notice a shift of mindset.  You may find that small things that bothered you before don’t matter anymore.  You can now start to live your life without worrying what other people think and finally to do things that matter to you most.

You might have to go through these steps a few times before you can finally overcome the fear of death. Be self-compassionate, be kind to yourself and reach out to your loved ones for support.

Download TELEME mobile app to chat with a psychologist or counsellor to help you find peace within yourself.

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