The ManicaPost
Arthur Marara Motivation for Success
If you were to drop dead NOW, how will life be for your survivors and dependants?
This is the question that many of us are not applying our minds to yet it is the reality of avoiding it that often plagues the survivors. Whatever you are doing I want you to stop for a minute and seriously think about it, and ask yourself this question. Are you sure your family is strong enough to continue life without you? Are you positive that your family is well covered and well prepared for life after you? The greatest gift we can give to our children is to prepare them for our absence.
Death is inevitable
We want to go to heaven, but we don’t want to die. No matter how you live your life, you will die. Steve Jobs towards the end of his life left us some provocative thoughts on death, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
You may want to cry about it, you will die. We will all die, whether poor, or rich, powerful or weak, slow or fast. We will all die. The Bible is a book about the work of dead people on earth, their successes and failures and the lessons for today. Jesus himself died, and rose again to show his victory over death. In reality, no one wants to die.
Steve Jobs later on said, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” If you have attended a funeral or so you will realise this reality.
Prepare for it
While it was unusual to prepare for death, the attitude has changed and now have accepted it and prepared for it. You cannot live your life as an immortal. I will share below some ways in which you can prepare for your death. Scary? Ah no! Not even. What is actually scary is that you are not planning about it.
Get a funeral policy
Funeral services are very expensive if you are going to get a decent send off in cash terms. I have had the opportunity to assist in several funerals, and I know the costs involved in cash terms. Truth be told, like what my mentor Mr Philip Mataranyika says, “Funerals are not about the deceased. They are about the living.” When you are gone, you have no control of where you will be buried, about what you will wear and even who will attend your funeral.
You, however, have control if you plan on how you want to be buried, the hearse to be used, how mourners are to be ferried, casket or coffin of choice. While a deceased person no longer has any stress, the stress is on the living on how they are going to dispose your body. Don’t labour people with funeral costs when you are in a position to pay and prepare in advance. Get a good and reliable funeral assurance service provider, and take our funeral policy for you and even your dependants. When death strikes you can at least focus on the mourning and not on the headaches of where you will get the money for burial.
I have seen people travelling extended distances in an open truck with a coffin inside, going to bury someone. In this day and age, like seriously? You can get a funeral policy from $3/month, and get a decent burial, yet someone prefers to expend that money on Whatsapp bundles, buying fried chicken and chips, “smell houses”, soccer betting and expensive phones. If you are in this category please, Wake Up!
Get a life policy
I opened with this question in my introduction. Why not take out life cover for your dependants or even yourself in the event that you are no longer able to work for yourself. Do not spend your money on cars, expensive hairdos without making any solid plans for the future. Great people think about the future. Just some moments of serious thinking and planning can make a significant difference for your children.
You do not have tomorrow
Who told you will be there tomorrow? I am not being negative. I am being practical. Have you ever had the experience of seeing a person and after some hours you are told that they are dead. If you have, you are not alone. I have had several such experiences. Healthy people lose their lives in our faces.
There are several people who are critically ill, who are predeceased by many people who appear “healthy”. That’s why we often ask, “What happened?” every time a person dies. The mere fact that you are not sick is not a guarantee that you will sleep on your bed tomorrow. We should learn from this and properly align of our affairs.
Have a will or Trust in place
Who is going to inherit your wealth or your assets? Many people do not even think about that. There is a lot of drama when someone is deceased, as people want to grab what they never worked for. Why not sit down with your lawyer, and draw up a Will or Family Trust to cover your dependants and even yourself in the event that you are indisposed. Draw up a durable Power Of Attorney in the unfortunate event that you are no longer able to make important decisions for yourself. Plan your estate and minimise the amount of Estate Duty on your estate when you are no more. Call your lawyer today and do this exercise. Your dependants will thank you one day in your absence.
Arthur Marara is an attorney, author and speaker. He is also the author of the Personal Development Toolkit, Keys to Financial Freedom, The Power Within, and Keys to Effective Time Management. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Like his page on Facebook, or Whatsapp: +263772467255 or visit my website www.arthurmarara.org
