Featured Blog: A Different Perspective on End of Life Issues

It’s probably safe to say that chatting about end of life issues is not how most people would like to spend their free time. It’s one of those “when I get around to it, if I get around to it” items on our proverbial “to do”list.  And yet, sooner or later, it’s a conversation all of us are likely to have.

The good news is that this conversation needn’t be all doom and gloom. It’s possible – perhaps even preferable – to infuse what is by all accounts a necessary, albeit serious, discussion with at least some measure of hope and assurance.

Of course, the intent of such an approach would not be to gloss over important questions relating to financial planning, long-term care, or whether you should consent to “heroic measures” to save your life. These are highly personal decisions that require careful consideration. Too often, though, when these discussions are brought into the public arena they’re obscured by the legal, political, and theological agendas of others. It’s no wonder we don’t want to talk about this stuff.

So how do we go about leavening the conversation?  For me it begins by asking basic questions about life and death: “How do I maintain my current quality of life?”  “What happens when I die?”

Obviously there’s nobody around today who can personally testify as to “what happens next?” There are, however, quite a few researchers here in California and around the country who have observed the impact an individual’s thought can have on their life – and their health – right now; something that could very well impact the way we think about our future.  Just ask Gail Ironson, a psychology and psychiatry professor at the University of Miami.

Ironson conducted a study a few years back to determine the relationship between spiritual consciousness and the progression of AIDS.  She looked at two key factors: Viral load, which lets you know how much of the virus is in someone’s body, and immune cells, which work to fend off the AIDS virus. Bottom line: Those who were actively cultivating a spiritual outlook had a much lower viral load and maintained immune cells at a much higher rate than those who consciously disavowed such activity. 

I happen to know of one woman whose spiritual outlook alone led to a complete and permanent healing of untreatable stomach cancer.

What does this have to do with end of life issues?  Although not everyone agrees on this point, let’s assume for the moment that consciousness is something we possess both before and after death. It stands to reason, then, that the consciousness we have now will continue to provide noticeable benefit hereafter, perhaps especially to those of us “actively cultivating a spiritual outlook.” And I find that quite assuring.

Just how an understanding of the relationship between consciousness and health impacts your end of life planning is, of course, up to you. Certainly the argument can be made, though, that maintaining a spiritual outlook could and perhaps should play a key role in the process.