Day 6 of 365 - Death; It's Life Altering!
I do not use that title in a facetious or comical way. I believe it to be true. After all when any being close to us, whether they be animal or human, departs this earthly plane, our lives are shifted.
In the past year or so there have been several deaths in my circle of family and friends. Some have been relatives or acquaintances and others have been very beloved pets. Whether it is an expected death or not, it makes us stop in our tracks. It's the physical end of a relationship, no matter what form that relationship took. It creates a change in the dynamics of our relationship to others in our family or extended circle.
As a young adult, when I would make the trip home to visit my parents who lived a distance away, one of the first conversations we had would begin with "So and so died, you remember them". "Um, no I don't think I do." It may have been someone who lived in my small home town, or an acquaintance or friend of my parents. It didn't mean a lot to me, but it obviously affected my parents considering that they would bring it up.
Now that I'm in my 60's I find myself sometimes doing the same thing with my kids. Funny how that happens huh? They will have a puzzled look on their face and I will try to describe the person more, or put them in a context they might remember. Then I will realize it does not have meaning for them and I stop.
After a death that is more significant to us we might reassess where our own lives are going and whether that is the direction we wish to keep. It's often said that we should not make life-changing decisions during our early stages of grieving a significant loss. Nevertheless, this sometimes happens. Sometimes impulsive decisions made in these circumstances have a positive life outcome for us and other times may cause regrets.
My mother died when I was 28, from complications of diabetes and heart disease at the age of 62. I vowed to myself that I would not die like that at a relatively young age. A decision I made soon after that, to go on a very drastic diet to lose the weight from my most recent baby, had an unexpected and bad outcome. While on the diet, I had an unplanned pregnancy, which I then miscarried at only 7 weeks. Now this may have happened anyway, since miscarriages are not all that uncommon. However, given that the agency supervising this diet told me I would immediately have to stop when I reported my pregnancy, I have always believed it was a factor.
The longer term positive outcome of my vow was that I had planted a seed in myself to be more mindful of my long term health and well being. I'm not saying that I suddenly became a health super star. My busy life as the working mother of three children took predominance until my mid-forties though I did what I could to regularly exercise. Then, various bodily symptoms woke me up again to taking better care of myself.
As the survivors after the death of a loved one, the inevitability of our own mortality comes to mind and we may reassess the status of our own health and vitality.
In the past year or so there have been several deaths in my circle of family and friends. Some have been relatives or acquaintances and others have been very beloved pets. Whether it is an expected death or not, it makes us stop in our tracks. It's the physical end of a relationship, no matter what form that relationship took. It creates a change in the dynamics of our relationship to others in our family or extended circle.
As a young adult, when I would make the trip home to visit my parents who lived a distance away, one of the first conversations we had would begin with "So and so died, you remember them". "Um, no I don't think I do." It may have been someone who lived in my small home town, or an acquaintance or friend of my parents. It didn't mean a lot to me, but it obviously affected my parents considering that they would bring it up.
Now that I'm in my 60's I find myself sometimes doing the same thing with my kids. Funny how that happens huh? They will have a puzzled look on their face and I will try to describe the person more, or put them in a context they might remember. Then I will realize it does not have meaning for them and I stop.
After a death that is more significant to us we might reassess where our own lives are going and whether that is the direction we wish to keep. It's often said that we should not make life-changing decisions during our early stages of grieving a significant loss. Nevertheless, this sometimes happens. Sometimes impulsive decisions made in these circumstances have a positive life outcome for us and other times may cause regrets.
My mother died when I was 28, from complications of diabetes and heart disease at the age of 62. I vowed to myself that I would not die like that at a relatively young age. A decision I made soon after that, to go on a very drastic diet to lose the weight from my most recent baby, had an unexpected and bad outcome. While on the diet, I had an unplanned pregnancy, which I then miscarried at only 7 weeks. Now this may have happened anyway, since miscarriages are not all that uncommon. However, given that the agency supervising this diet told me I would immediately have to stop when I reported my pregnancy, I have always believed it was a factor.
The longer term positive outcome of my vow was that I had planted a seed in myself to be more mindful of my long term health and well being. I'm not saying that I suddenly became a health super star. My busy life as the working mother of three children took predominance until my mid-forties though I did what I could to regularly exercise. Then, various bodily symptoms woke me up again to taking better care of myself.
As the survivors after the death of a loved one, the inevitability of our own mortality comes to mind and we may reassess the status of our own health and vitality.
I think that our generation has lived through the most tumultous of times with regard to health and eating well, and dieting in particular. I believe it is as significant as the changes related to technology use in our daily living.
ReplyDeleteGood point Susan!
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