Is there life after loss?

How blessed we are!

Behind this story is a promise I made to myself after Philip died.

Within the first pretty challenging year of grief, I had reflected on our relationship, and understood that while I had learnt a lot about love and loving from Philip, my heart had not always been as open as it could have been.

The promise I made was that, if I ever got another chance to have a relationship, I would keep my heart open.

After I met Ian, this was tested a few times!  By this stage I could sense really clearly how open it was (I think in images a lot, and sometimes the door to my heart was locked, and other times, I felt so open, the door had been blown off its hinges!)

But when it was closed, I actively did what I knew I needed to do to open it again.

And why I’m telling you this is because, alongside one other learning, it has been instrumental in me living a wholehearted life.

That other learning has been a willingness to face death – not just Philip’s, but my own too.

I slowly began to understand that it is only by admitting the boundary that death brings, that we are actually able to feel safe enough to fully let go into life.

And when you fully let go into all that life brings, its ups, downs, roundabouts and the general rollercoaster ride of it all, that’s when joy, connection, and precious, intimate moments show up in abundance.

Meaning that the quantity of life becomes less important than the quality.

Of course you might prefer it never to end, especially if you are in good health, but that’s not the nature of life, is it?

Life itself includes death, and the sooner one is able to embrace that, the sooner those precious moments of golden gratitude bubble up into a whole life of them.

You reading this, perhaps, are someone who is on this ‘facing up to death’ journey with me, but there are many who aren’t.

If you know someone who might benefit from the idea of practicing opening their heart, or allowing the life-giving acknowledgment of death to be present, please pass on this article to them.

And if you want to take some practical action on this subject, bear in mind that my open heart is also brought into all the products and programmes that we offer here – that’s what happens with an open heart, it spills out and infuses everything it comes into contact with.

Here’s what you can do for a next step:

• Read my book, get inspired,  and get the Workbook to keep everything in one place
• If you like self-paced study and more support, take the End of Life Planning Made Easy course
• If you’d rather do your own plan alongside others doing theirs, visit here
• If you’d like to help others get their act together, open their hearts, plan for their death, and bring peace of mind to everyone involved