How should we count down our days when we have been given a bad prognosis? If the physician tells you that there isn’t anything that can be done to bring a cure and you’ve been given days or months to live, how should you respond? How should we wait while waiting to die?

With the initial news of no cure for your disease or ailment, there is a shock or a disbelief. Once you can shake off that shock you can develop a plan for approaching what time you have left in life. In this post I want to share with you seven things to consider as you develop a plan and count down your days.

• Let me encourage you to focus on quality of life over quantity of life. Don’t obsess with how many days you have left, but focus your thinking on living today. Focus on the present, today. Squeeze whatever joy and happiness you can from each hour of the day.

• Being focused on the present, doesn’t mean ignoring the future. You want to be sure your affairs are in order for your loved ones, once you’ve passed. Prepare what you need to and let your family know what memorialization you may want or not want.

• You’re going to get emotional and cry during this countdown when you realize you will be leaving your family and loved ones. This is normal. Communicate that to your family and let them know that you don’t want to leave them and you don’t want to be removed from their future, and that hurts. Hold your loved ones, and don’t bury those emotions.

• Let go and let God. You are not giving up. You are trusting in God’s will to be done and for nature to take its natural course. Sometimes the continual pursuit of a cure causes more suffering and no quality of life. Sometimes we have to consider that the ultimate healing is in eternity and that is the best God has to offer.

• If your doctor suggests hospice, know that it is a shift from curative care to comfort care. Medically there is nothing to reverse the disease or cause healing. Hospice offers comfort care and gives attention to quality of life, the dignity of the patient, caring for their pain management, and allows for family to say their goodbyes.

• Make peace with yourself, others, and with God. Not everyone gets to know that they are dying so not everyone gets time to prepare. Reflect on your life and realize you did the most you could with what you had, and if you need to seek forgiveness from someone, do it. Meditate on God and strengthen your relationship with Him.

• Finally, know that death is not the end. The Christian view from the Bible paints a picture of the Earth made new and Heaven becoming the eternal home of all who have accepted Jesus Christ as the forgiveness of their sins and hope for life without sickness, disease, and death. Heaven will be a great reunion for those whose loved ones have died and you should look forward to that!