Many times, the thought of dying is scary and overwhelming. Perhaps you’ve been faced with the reality of death recently and you are unsure how to move forward in your life. It may spark thoughts about your own mortality. You may be struggling thinking of the things you need to do before you are no longer here, but also thinking about your loved ones. What will they need to do when you die? For many people, this thought of their loved ones suffering and struggling through those days is unsettling. You can help by making key decisions about your wishes in advance. Taking away some of this stress and strain on your loved ones can help to give you peace, too.

Establishing Your Needs

Most people don’t think about what they would like to have happen after their death until they are forced to confront it, and then it can often be to late. While healthy and of clear mind, talk to a religious figure, a local hospice, or even your estate planning attorney. Make it a point to outline your wishes from start to finish especially if you are passionate about them. By making your wishes known, you remove the guess work about what your wishes would have been and allow your loved ones to begin the grieving process.

The key here is to remember that mourning is a process that your loved ones need to go through and funerals, memorials, and celebrations of life are a way to help them to do that. That can only happen if you’ve made your wishes clearly known.

Consider Notifications, for Example

A good place to start when it comes to making key decisions is about how people will learn of your death. You may have very specific thoughts about this. Do you want your loved ones to learn through personal conversations with those you’ve left behind? Do you want print notifications? Then, think about your online family, perhaps those that would not otherwise know if it is not posted online.

When making decisions for your own death, consider the advantages of an online memorial. This also removes the burdensome cost of the traditional obituary. HealGrief.org offers this no fee service so that friends and family from around the world can be notified of your death and asked to celebrate your life.