An attitude of gratitude…

It’s hard for many parents to imagine one of their children dying before them. I’ve heard it said of such occurrences that “It’s not natural.” Or “It’s just not right!” And yet like many things in life, it happens.

I have seen first-hand the way different people have handled the death of a child. All the expected responses in their varying degrees. Yet there is one that stands apart from the other responses I have experienced.

Seemingly at odds, yet from an external perspective, seemingly so much more effective. It’s definitely a case of this approach, this attitude, being simple – yet one so difficult to find and maintain through grief. Witnessing a clear and present sense of gratitude in grief is as surprising as it is admirable.  Choosing an attitude of gratitude in a time of grief – irrespective of who it is that has died – can be difficult to imagine at the best of times, let alone when death is a sudden, unexpected and unwelcome visitor.

So, as we all will eventually find ourselves experiencing the death of someone we love, I invite you to consider choosing a focus on, and openly expressing, your gratitude for the presence of your loved one in your life: for however long or short it has been. And similarly, you are invited to reframe or reconsider your perspective on a recent or long past death. I invite you to consider whether a focus on gratitude, rather than loss, might make a difference to how you experience the death of someone you love.

We have just one life…

Jacqui Chaplin

Independent Funeral Information | Life Story Collector & Writer | End of Life Tributes | Easier End of Life Experiences | Funeral Planning and Celebrancy

Just One Life… doing and designing dying and death differently and with dignity and distinction.

For more information on doing dying and death differently or to start thinking about how to handle a death of a loved one before you are overtaken by grief, organise a conversation with Jacqui today.

Call +61 (0)412 741 531 or email jacqui@jacquichaplin.com

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Jacqui Chaplin is a Lifetime & End-of-Life Commemoration Specialist (a funeral celebrant among other things) based in Melbourne, Australia. She loves capturing stories about the nature of life and being human, as well as, celebrating and commemorating well lived lives and lives that have ended. Jacqui has a passion for bringing the conversations that many of us find difficult to think about, let alone speak about, out in the open so we can see how our stories, values and beliefs influence our attitudes.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.