Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated during the 1st and 2nd of November in which souls of the dead can return to their families for a brief period of time. The veil between the spirit world and the earthly world is dissolved and the souls of the dead return to feast, drink and dance with their loved ones who have created offerings in their homes to welcome them back.
What I love most about the Day of the Dead tradition is that it replaces mourning and instead celebrates both death and life, accepting and appreciating that both are needed, but yet knowing that death is not the end.
It is rare to find anyone that hasn't been touched by death, grief and loss and it is often when we experience these times that we think about our own mortality and how we are living our lives.
When my niece Megan suddenly died at 26 years old, I had a huge awakening and realisation of how short life actually is and it has completely changed how I view life, take chances, make changes in my life, perceive things that scare me, and appreciate every day that I still have.
When I can feel the fear or the hesitance creeping up on me I will think about Megan and the fact that she was unable to experience so much in the time that she was given, that it will propel me forward because we truly don't know when we will take our last breath and I don't want to have any regrets.
The beautiful book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing written by Bonnie Ware who was a palliative nurse caring for patients during their last few weeks on earth recounts the following themes of regret of those people:
1) “I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” 2) “I wish I hadn't worked so hard.”
3) “I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.”
4) “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
5) “I wish I had let myself be happier”
So what regrets are you having right now? What regrets do you not want to have on your death bed?
As a Life Coach I am here to help support you to live the life that you truly desire and that you completely deserve, but first you need to acknowledge and be truly honest with yourself about where you are not happy in your life and what you want to change.
So as Day of the Dead approaches I want you to grab a journal and imagine that you could have another conversation with a loved one.
What would you ask them?
What topics would you want to focus on?
What would you be proud to tell them about?
What would you be trying to hide from them because you are trying to hide it from yourself?
What advice would you want?
What fears would you share with them?
What hopes and wishes would you want their help with?
If you are truly honest in this exercise, it will show you the areas of your life that you want to change, need to change or have to change, whilst also illuminating the fears that you may have around these changes.
If you want some support with the changes in your life then please do contact me, I would be honoured to work with you.
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