Don’t Learn This Too Late: Make An Authentic Life Now, By Getting Real About The End

By the time you finish listening, your perspective on death—and life—will be forever changed.

Today, Mel sits down with death doula and best-selling author Alua Arthur for a transformative conversation about how embracing the shortness of life can unlock a profound sense of joy and purpose in your life right now.

Alua shares three powerful questions you should ask yourself today and reveals an inspiring exercise to perform on your birthday to help you live with more intention and gratitude.

With wisdom, warmth, and humor, Alua shows how getting real about death can unlock the authentic, fulfilling life you’re meant to live.

Prepare for a mindset shift that will change how you look at life, death, and everything in between.

If you liked this deeply profound episode, listen to this one next: #1 Neurosurgeon: How to Manifest Anything You Want & Unlock the Unlimited Power of Your Mind

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‍In this episode:

• 7:42: Why confronting your own death can help you build a better life.
• 12:29: Alua helps people die for a living, here’s what that means. 
• 14:44: The ONE exercise you should start doing on your birthday.
• 18:55: Why talking about death actually brings more life to you?
• 24:36: The step-by-step guide for how to show up for sick or dying loved ones. 
• 29:21: Why Alua says people should be clapping at your funeral.
• 31:10: So what even happens after you die?
• 37:47: How to have the hard conversations with your aging parents about death. 
• 46:50: Exploring one of the hardest questions: what happens to you after you die?
• 49:44: Your funeral is just another wedding, here’s what Alua means. 
• 52:02: Alua’s shares the most common regrets of the dying. 
• 53:29: The 3 questions you need to consider when thinking about death. 
• 55:50: The handbook for mourning a complicated relationship. 
• 58:23: Alua gives you her personal guide to processing grief.
• 1:00:26: How to turn grief into a powerful tool to improve your life.
• 1:07:21: What you should know about leaving a legacy behind. 
• 1:09:20: What does Alua think her last words will be?

Alua Arthur:

• Follow Alua on Instagram 
• Follow her  End of Life Planning organization on Instagram. 
• Read Alua’s book, Briefly Perfectly Human
• Watch Alua’s TedTalk
• Alua’s Going With Grace profile
• Check out Alua’s doula certification on her website

Additional Resources:

• Scientific American: Thinking about Death Can Make Life Better
• Muallim Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities: Embracing mortality: psychological preparation on death in the guidance of stoic philosophy
• Cleveland Clinic: What an End-of-life Doula Can Do for You
• Palliative Medicine: Death doulas as supportive companions in end-of-life care: a scoping review
• Palliative Care and Social Practice: Describing the end-of-life doula role and practices of care: perspectives from four countries
• OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying: “Death Bouncers” and “Spiritual Guides”: How End-of-life Doulas Provide, Frame, and Navigate Spirituality and Spiritual Care
• OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying: Dying a “Good” Death: The Work, Care, and Support of End-of-Life Doulas
• National Institute on Aging: Providing Care and Comfort at the End of Life
• Annals of Internal Medicine: Redefining the “Planning” in Advance Care Planning: Preparing for End-of-life Decision Making
• American Family Physician: Making Decisions with Families at the End of Life
• Public Library of Science: Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
• NPR: How to prepare for the death of a parent: A checklist
• Psychology Today: The Complexity of Grief with Estrangement
• The American Institute of Stress: Resilience in Grief: A Journey of Post-Traumatic Growth
• Journal of Humanistic Psychology: Bereavement and Personal Growth