5 reasons why you should think about death. Often.

Yikes. Death chat can feel a little depressing at times – we’re prompted to think about our mortality and our loved ones’ mortality. That hardly sounds like fun, right?

But we’re here to tell you that there are actually some pretty great benefits of thinking about death on the reg, especially when those thoughts transform into conversations you share with your family and friends.

Here are 5 reasons why you should start thinking about death more often.

You might find yourself becoming more comfortable with the notion of death.

It’s known that thinking – and talking – about topics that make you feel nervous or uncomfortable is a great way to actually become comfortable with them. If death is something that freaks you out a little, prompting yourself to think about it a little more actively can help make the topic feel a tad less scary while also increasing your quality of life. But more on that next.

Watch your quality of life skyrocket.

Thinking about our own mortality – and the fact that we won’t be around forever – can motivate us to live every day to its fullest. When we know we have limited time, we find ourselves taking advantage of the time we do have, by ticking items off our bucket list (hey, it might be time to book that sky diving adventure you’ve been thinking about for years!) and spending time doing activities we find most meaningful.

You’ll become more empathetic towards others.

Remembering that we’re all here for a short (and good) time, not a long time, can prompt us to be a little kinder and more empathetic towards our loved ones (as well as strangers). We can find ourselves becoming more patient and understanding, and can often feel inclined to slow things down when spending time with the people we love; switching off our phones when hanging out with friends, or organising more frequent hours-long family dinners.

More so than that, though, acknowledging our own mortality can encourage us to reconcile broken relationships so that all our #dramas are sorted before we say goodbye.

Feel enticed to live life more authentically.

We spend so much of our time worrying about what others think of us – and this is evident in the clothes we wear, the jobs we apply for, the universities we attend, and the people we associate with. While we like to think we live our lives in a way that’s truly authentic to who we are? We hate to break it to you, but… we likely don’t. Well, not all the time anyway.

‘Death awareness’ can entice us to live our life in a way that feels true to who we are – because, at the end of the day, we want to feel as though we lived a life that served us; not just the people around us.

It can be a great prompt to get your health in order.

We all know that death can be both expected and unexpected. We can die on an average day when we’re seemingly healthy, or we can spend days, weeks or months in palliative care after receiving a grim diagnosis.

When we actively think about death, it’s in our nature to do whatever we can to prevent it from happening. So, you might find you start booking those regular doctor appointments or skin check-ups, sign up to your local gym, or make time to learn how to cook healthy meals.

A healthy lifestyle is the best way to increase our lifespan. So it might just be worth investing in, don’t you think?

Wrap up

Death chat is grim. Death-related thoughts can be even grimmer (is that a word? We’re coining it, if not). But it’s likely worth your while to start actively thinking about it. Who knows, your quality of life might significantly improve as a result.

Part of thinking about our death is ensuring our affairs are in order. Start your Will today at willed.com.au.