Sooner or later we all face death. You can take greater responsibility for this experience right now. The largest part of this process entails taking responsibility for your life. There are many facets unique to the death experience that allow you to maintain your personal power and enable to you embrace death with conscious awareness. First of all, face it. This takes courage, but the alternative is being stuck in the fear and withdrawal that drain away the energy needed for living fully.

Secondly, make some choices about it now. Do you currently have a will? (It doesn't matter if you are twenty or eighty; you have no assurance of living beyond this very moment.) How do you prefer to die? Do you wish to be hospitalized in your last days? What alternatives exist for your care outside of a hospital? Do you know about hospice programs for home treatment of the terminally ill? Do you have a living will regarding life-support systems, surgery, pain medication, and the presence of supportive people? Will you donate your eyes or other organs to others? What kind of funeral ceremony do you want? Are you aware of the costs of burial and all that goes with it? What about cremation? Who do you entrust with making choices for you when, or if, you can no longer make them for yourself?

Finally, accept your weaknesses, as well as your strengths, as you confront death. Knowing that death is a transformation, allow your darkness to surface with your light. Give yourself permission to express the emotions that are real for you. Fear, anger, or deep sadness are all a part of who you are as a fully functioning, alive, and aware human being. Flow with and love yourself. Let go. The body, mind, and spirit know when it is time to move on. Trust yourself - trust the process.

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