Sharing stories and memories are part of the cremation services heard in Greenbelt, MD. They paint a picture of someone who was loved and who has died. How you live now is what will influence the kinds of stories and memories that are shared at your cremation services.

Living life with purpose – find what is meaningful for you, important to you, and what you’re passionate about and incorporate it into the fabric of your life – is something you can start doing today. Perhaps you already have elements of this in your life, but they are not as fully integrated nor do you get to embrace them as often as you’d like to.

You may be passionate about helping other people. Whether you’re the person who always takes a meal to the neighbor whose loved one died, who had a baby, or who has a family member who is sick or in the hospital, or you’re involved in serving the needs of people in your community by volunteering, you may find that you don’t get to take advantage of these opportunities as much as you’d like because you’re too busy doing other things.

It’s always helpful when you want to have a purpose in your life and everything else seems to be getting in the way to stop and think about the day you die. What are you doing now that will matter then and what won’t?

Most of us don’t like to contemplate our own deaths, but when you stop to think about the end, it gives you a chance to rethink the present and focus on those things that matter most in life. The Pulitzer-Prize winning Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman wrote a soul-searching column about this in “The Company Man.”

We can get so focused on the busyness of our lives – much of which can be spent running in circles without getting anywhere or jumping from one thing to another or trying to juggle several things at the same time and never getting anything accomplished – that we lose the purpose and the passion of our lives.

We can be strangers to our own families and mysteries to our neighbors and friends because we never stopped to share our lives, our hopes, our dreams, and our passions with them. Is that the way you want to die? Of course not.

So, now is the time to reclaim your life and fill it with purpose and meaning. Purpose and meaning often come into your life when you change your focus from yourself to other people. We live in a society that encourages focus on “me” and “I.”

Look at your social media accounts right now. For the most part, they are full of posts from people talking about themselves, admiring themselves, and espousing their ideas and their opinions. They’re looking for people to admire them as much as they admire themselves and every thumbs up or heart gives them that hit of dopamine that reinforces their focus on themselves.

But dopamine rushes from adulation are temporary and they don’t fill your soul in a deep and meaningful way that purpose, with a focus on helping, serving, and doing for other people – even if it’s just your immediate family or your closest group of friends – does.

When you die, your purpose and your passion will be interwoven in the stories and memories shared about you. That will be the legacy of your life and what you will pass on to those you leave behind.

If you want more information about cremation services offered in Greenbelt, MD, you can talk with our expert staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A.