1: “If I was going to reach my goals, something would have to change,” Tynan writes in Superhuman by Habit.

“I went to sleep at random hours late at night and woke up in the mid-afternoon. My vehicle registrations and inspections were always delinquent, sometimes by years. I was consistently late to almost everything,” Tynan writes.

“The lengths of time by which I procrastinated on important things could be … continue reading

1: Interested in learning the secrets of life?

Searching for pure truth?

Would you like to fill your soul “with an understanding of love that knows no boundaries?” Diane Button asks in her book  What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

Answers to these questions can come from spending time with those near death.

As an end-of-life doula, Diane spends many hours with people in their … continue reading

1: “What’s that?” Gabby asked.

She pointed to a small metal box that dangled from a hospital bed’s grab bar.

Jacob, who was in his early forties, had been confined to a hospital bed because of an aggressive brain tumor called a glioblastoma.

“He had been a very active man, a cyclist who loved the outdoors and lived an adventurous life, but this ‘glio’ robbed his body of the freedom … continue reading

1: When Diane Button was new to end-of-life care, so many questions flooded her mind.

“I wondered if I would ever get to a place where I would feel comfortable stepping into the home of a dying person with ease and grace,” she writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

Fortunately, she had a mentor. “Hospice chaplain Clarence Liu was was … continue reading

“One of my clients had candles spread all over her house, in every room,” Diane Button, an end-of-life doula, writes in her book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

“They were on nightstands and dressers, surrounding her bathtub, and even along the walkway of the woodsy entrance into her house,” Diane notes.

“There were dozens of them, and they were beautiful, but not one … continue reading

1: Looking for lighthearted conversation?

You’re unlikely to find it if you visit the Button family on New Year’s Eve.

“Our oldest daughter, Carly, is getting her doctorate in counseling psychology and is a fan of stoicism and existential psychology,” Diane Button writes in her book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

“Her passion inevitably leads us to deep conversations about the meaning and purpose … continue reading

1: “So many of my clients tell me profound, beautiful things about their loved ones,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

Yet, when asked if they have shared those thoughts or would like to write them down so they can be shared, they often reply, “I’m sure they already know” or “It goes without saying.”

As an end-of-life … continue reading

1: “Why is it so hard to let go?” Marilyn said.

Marilyn was ninety-six years old. A naturally curious person, she had engaged Diane Button, an end-of-life doula, because she wanted to die well.

“She was willing and even excited to do the work to make that happen,” Diane writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

Initially, Marilyn told Diane … continue reading

1: “Our conversations started out funny and just got funnier,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

Diane and Franck Battelli, both end-of-life doulas, were meeting with Greg, 53, who was dying from ALS.

Before proceeding, Greg wanted to make sure it would be a good fit.

“He let us know in a very serious tone of voice that … continue reading

1: Randall was frustrated.

“Everyone wants to know how I’m doing, if I’m sleeping, and what treatments I’m having,”  Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.

“Don’t they understand this is the this is the last think in the world I want to talk about?” Randall said.

“I want to talk about life, and love, and how everyone is … continue reading