He's making a list, checking it twice...going to find out who's naughty and nice....Are you humming the tune in your head now?
'Tis the season of holiday shopping and planning for the family. 'Tis also the season for many, many lists.
Do you currently suffer from that nagging feeling in your mind, and in your gut, that the end of 2013 is looming, just a few short weeks away, and you have yet to accomplish the multitude of projects you had hoped to complete before the New Year appears shouting loudly "Out with the old, and in with the new"!?
Are you really good at telling yourself it is Ok to procrastinate when there are things you should be doing but don't want to do because "tomorrow is another day"?
Why is it that most people, when making a Bucket List of the things they wish to do, achieve, visit, explore, master, or dream about in their lifetimes, seem to wait until what seems to be the very last minute...as they approach the end of their chronological lives, rather than creating the Bucket List when younger and when there is a greater possibility of time to complete goals and check off those lists?
Choosing to tackle difficult conversations regarding just about any topic seems to get parked on the back burner when people engage in conversations on a daily basis. That certainly appears to be the case when one brings up the topic of death and dying.
If a topic is not deemed "urgent" or necessary" during the normal ebb and flow of our busy packed days and nights, we tend to put it aside, hoping for a better time or a better place to have that difficult chat.
This topic is near and dear to me, tugging at my heartstrings when I think about it.
This is a very personal story I am sharing with you.
My family owned, loved, and cared for a wonderful shingle covered and much weathered summer cottage. It is located on an island and is a place where I spent my summers growing up, molding into, and eventually becoming the person I am today.
This home was my summer haven for over forty years.
Hot off the press.
Ellen Goodman, Founder of The Conversation Project, recently released a survey that had some pretty interesting information about conversations about death.
And I would like to share this data with you and then we will talk some more.
Survey says...
What comes to mind when you read: "Everybody dies"?
Do you think:
When my mom died, as traumatic an event as it was experiencing her sudden death, I had no regrets.
I must admit that I feel pretty happy, and fortunate, that I can say that.
Mom and I spoke almost every day, or, at a minimum, at least twice a week. Sundays was always a good time for us to catch up on each others comings and goings. We were very connected, except when I was a teenager of course!
Have you asked your parents (or anyone) to keep and store your personal items?
This list might include your furniture, your trophies, your collections of school projects, your personal letters and/or diaries, your yearbooks, and your paperback books and magazine collections.
Don't forget about your photo albums, your scrap books, your halloween costumes and your old bikes, riding toys and camping gear!
Why do we spend our lives adding tangible personal property to the already large mountain of "stuff" and complexities in our lives, when ultimately we will reach a tipping point when we end up having to toss, discard, donate and downsize our objects and our lives in the end?