death provides...

Nothing helps you understand the fleeting beauty of life and what is most important perhaps more than death.

And most important are the people in our lives. The connection, the bond, the love, the nurturing, the stories, and the memories that we share.

These are the great gifts of life, and death teaches us to seize them while we can, because we know they won’t last forever.

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During our drive home from my Bubbi’s funeral, I reflected on some enlightening opportunities that I recognize death provides.

• love • Although they are no longer with us, our loved ones live on in our hearts, our minds, and our dreams.

Love is universal and transcendent; it knows no boundaries and reaches far beyond the physicality of this world.

• impermanence • When someone dies, you realize that life is not permanent and that nothing will last forever no matter how much control you try to exert.

• transformation • Loss and struggle hold the seeds of transformation. Life is a continual process of struggle, transformation, and growth. Although it may not always seem obvious, if you look at growth you can always trace it back to the struggle that preceded it.

•presence • The paradox of death is that it points to what it means to be alive. Aliveness has to do with experiencing life , and connecting with others.

• connection • Life events like death can really humble us and open us up to the possibility of waking up and stepping outside ourselves. This gives us a chance to connect to something bigger and do what is truly important.

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Death is powerfully enlightening, but you also don’t have to wait for someone to die to change the way you live. 😉