Piloting Your Life Crew Chat: End-of-Life

It’s beginning to look a lot like the holidays and this typically means extra time with family and friends. What better time to talk about end of life, preferences, estate planning, end-of-life care planning, and death planning then when you are celebrating being together?

In episode 113 of Piloting Your Life, I spoke with Candice Smith of Caregiven on the importance of having these discussions despite the discomfort.

As much as we need to know what our loved ones want, we need to know what we want, too.

Candice recommended a site called DeathOverDinner.org to help us with this exploration. Funerals360, Everplans, and Future File all have some great info and resources, too.

As with all Crew Chat conversations, set yourself up in a comfortable place where you feel loved and supported as you explore this topic. This one may bring up all sorts of feelings whether you are caring for aging loved ones, have already done so, have fears around your own mortality, or something else.

As with getting your financial house in order, getting this in order for yourself is a process and doesn’t need to be done in one setting.

Here are some questions to ask yourself and discuss during your Crew Chat.

— Where do I want to die? Do my loved ones know of my wishes?

— What have I done to prepare for my end-of-life journey?

— What expectations do I have for my loved ones? Do they know what I expect?

— Am I financially prepared to have my wishes and expectations adequately addressed?

— Do I want to be cremated, buried, other? Do I even know the various options?

— What kind of service, if any, do I want after I die? Who have I shared this with?

— Do I have a will or an estate plan? Have I shared this with anyone?

— Who knows where my financial records are? Who has access to my accounts?

— Am I an organ donor? Does anyone know about this decision?

— How do I want to be remembered?

Just writing this is stressing me out. I am not prepared, or as prepared as I want to be. I don’t want to be a burden on my children. And I suppose I want to exert some control even in the afterlife.

Time to schedule a Crew Chat with one of my Crews to talk about this and hear about what they are doing, too. We can support each other as we create Flight Plans to begin to address the gaps.

It’s a process and a journey and it can evolve over time. Hopefully, over a really, really long time.