Coping

People have their own ways of coping with whatever life throws at them. For instance, if work loads tend to get out of control, some people may take the time to step back and gather themselves, and others may just plow right through it and then relax afterwards. Different methods work for different people, and I would like to share my recent discovery of how I deal with one of the inevitable obstacles life throws at us: death.

When I am dealing with the death of someone close to me or, in this case, preparing for a death, I pamper myself. Over the summer there was a boy my age who passed away that I was once very close with when we were younger. Because of my work schedule, I was unable to stay for the funeral but the emotions I felt when I went to the viewing took me by surprise. Afterwards, I went to one of the antique stores downtown and bought myself a large Bible from the 1870's that I had been eying for awhile. It doesn't matter so much that it was a Bible, but it was large and quite beautiful to me. I had every intention of using it as an art piece, but it's still just sitting in my room untouched but admired. When my granny passed away a few years ago, I took myself out to lunch on the day I found out. And now, with news that my grandfather may only have a few days left to live, I've been pampering myself and dressing up more than usual. When I dress up, I feel better about myself and more confident, as if this will help me to be prepared for when the day comes that he passes away.

I cannot express enough how humanity continues to amaze me, and yet I so often overlook my own... habits I guess you could say. Everyone is so complex and it seems that only upon serious self-reflection I don't realize my own complexities. Just something to think about, I guess