Nothing is sure in life except death and taxes, so although it seems hard, preparing for the end shouldn’t really be.
Nobody likes to think of death or their own life ending, but for everyone, it is an eventuality that can't be escaped.
Thinking about the end of your life can seem scary and overwhelming, but the more you plan and prepare for it, you will find the less it will be.
No matter what age you are it’s never too early to plan out how you want things to go should some event or simply just age put you in a place where you know your life is soon to be at a close.
Here are four ways to prepare for that time, and help to ensure that you have control of your wants and needs all the way up to the end.
#1 - Talk to Your Family
Waiting until something should happen and leaving your family to guess what you might have wanted to happen is putting an unnecessary burden on them at what will probably be a very vulnerable and overwhelming time.
Take the time now to discuss all the possibilities of what could happen should your life be close to the end and let them know explicitly what you want to happen.
Listen to their concerns and come up with plans to make sure that everything is in order and in the right place for them to access important information and all the plans that you want and need.
This will help you to feel more comfortable knowing your wants will be carried out, and they will be relieved that they won't have to be guessing and stressing and can instead spend time with you and carry out your wishes.
#2 - Write It All Down
When you get together with your family or any other loved ones or friends make sure to write everything you discussed and planned down.
Write several documents if you want, and revise them as often as you please. If you also feel so inclined you can even have these documents looked over by a lawyer and make them legally binding.
The important thing is to have it all written down because even though it may have been discussed when it is written down there will be no room for error or misinformation.
#3 - Plan for Where and How You Want to Go
Another not so easy discussion or thought is how you want to be taken care of or how you want to go if you become incapacitated or need to be taken care of outside of you or your family’s home.
Do research on places such as hospice or that provide home care such as OneSource, or other places and organizations just like it.
Also, it is good to be explicit with things like your funeral and burial and how you want those to go, and also if you want to be cremated, donate your organs, etc.
Once again make sure that however you want this care to be done it is written down with exact directions, that way everything can go as planned.
#4 - Live for the Now, but Be Smart About the Future
Planning for the end of your life doesn’t mean you have to be constantly worrying about it, in fact, it's actually the opposite.
By making sure you have specific plans and by discussing all of these with family members and friends means you don’t have to worry about it all the time because you know that everything will be carried out as you wanted. And you can enjoy living rather than thinking about dying.
Enjoy the time you have with those that you love.
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