How We Greet Death

How we greet death is very much a reflection of how we approach life. For some it is easy to be blasé and to not worry about death. To an extent these people have a good idea. Life is for living and to gain the most out of life, it is important to look at how we can improve our lives: one of the best way to achieve this is to help improve the lives of others.

There is nothing wrong with having a certain respect or reverence for death, yet never let it overshadow the glory that life can bring. It is inevitable that during our lifetime we will experience losses of those we love and part of our grief (perhaps almost imperceptibly) will be due to the enhanced awareness of human mortality that is brought to our attention upon such occasions. Take out life insurance, pre-plan your funeral and make a will. These are selfless acts connected with your death that one ought to do. Then remember to take a moment to smell the roses and do something fun.

Life will bring countless experiences to us: some good and some that we often believe we would be better off without. However, it is this rich tapestry of experiences that defines us, that moves us gradually along the road of life. There are books that can help us through our grief, written by such notables as Doug Manning and John Kennedy Saynor. These men (as well as other writers in this field) know that grief and death are real. Yet they point out that they are intrinsic parts of us that we must acknowledge. Only then can we move on with our lives and put away the blanket of death that too many of us wrap ourselves in, until the time comes.

In his book 'Don't Take My Grief Away From Me' [In-Sight Books, Inc.], Doug Manning recognises the importance of our need to grieve in order to live our lives again without death as a spectre that haunts us. At the commencement of chapter 4, Doug Manning writes: "The first step toward recovering from grief may be the hardest step of all. The first step is facing the reality of death. No one can make that step an easy one."

Doug Manning has texts available for purchase at
www.insightbooks.com.

John Kennedy Saynor's texts on bereavement may be perused at www.genesis-resources.com.

Adapted from: Joy Johnson, 'Keys To Helping Children Deal With Death And Grief', (Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1999)
Harold Kushner, 'When Bad Things Happen To Good People', (Random House, 1987)