Precarious MHNR Network, LLC

Forgiveness, to forgive. Why is it so hard to do? Is it that we think we are condoning the person's behavior if we forgive the person? What do we gain by not forgiving? What do we lose by not forgiving?

We lose a great deal when we hang on to resentments. Science shows it's bad for our health- physical and mental.

In this episode of Precarious, I explore forgiveness: its definition and and give an example of "how to" forgive.

Why this topic? As I get closer to dying, society gives the message that part of gettting my affairs in order is to ask for forgiveness as well as forgive others.

PS - I turn 57 on July 28th. I didn't think I'd live this long once I was diagnosed with cancer back in 2013. Life if full of surprises.

What is Awe? When is the last time you experienced it? Even I questioned whether it is considered an emotion? It is an emotion that absolutely can improve our quality of life. Yet, it takes paying attention and being open to it.

In this episode of Precarious, I reference Dacher Keltner's book, AWE. The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. He outlines 8 sources of AWE and how we can access this beautiful emotion.

As my life comes to an end, I have experienced more moments of AWE than I have in my life time. It's not too late to expreince more AWE in your life right now.

Susie Steiner, a writer for the Guardian, published an article about a nurse who documented the top regrets of the dying.

She wrtites, "Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom."

I would love to hear from you. Join the conversation. If you were to die soon, would you have any of these regrets? Do you currently have any of these regrets?

email me: leah@leahbarrett.com

It can be lonely in the podcast land. I'll admit that having a one-way conversation has its advantages. And, facing my mortality can be lonely at times. So, I've decided to invite you into the conversation. In this short episode, I pose a number of questions about life and death and living and dying. I realize this can be a difficult topic, so be gentle with yourself if you feel uncomfortable.

Email your responses to: leah@leahbarrett.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

The chidren's book, The Velveteen Rabbit, was first published just over 100 years ago. The book is packed with life lessons or least encurages the reader to go inward and explore what it means to be REAL in this world that rewards us for being something we are not. I'm finding that illness and eventual death is a beautiful pathway to becoming real. In this episode of the podcast, I explore this connection. When you are stripped of your armour, you are left naked and vulnerable. The Skin Horse explains this process of becoming REAL to the Velveteen Rabbit. I see the parallel process in living in a body that is growing weak and moving closer to death. What might seem scary (and it is at times), is actualy a beautiful evolution of becoming through love.