Living for two can be done any age or level of healingand for any reason. Although my adventures are now more in the vein of celebration, honoring your loved one can greatly help speed up your grief process and healing, as you're about to see…
Perhaps you've heard of a 12-year-old boy named Aaron from Lexington Park, MD. Aaron now lives for two as a way to overcome his grief. He lost his twin brother, Eric, to brain cancer when the boys were only nine.
"From the womb, Aaron and Eric were inseparable," their mother Angela told Nate Berkus for a taping of theOprahshow. "In the sonogram we saw once, they were holding hands." The boys did everything together and the loss of his brother sent Aaron into a debilitating depression in which he lost his will to live.
Their insightful pediatrician, Dr. Corder, didn't prescribe medication, as many doctors would have. Instead she asked Aaron, "What do you like to do?" When he answered that he liked to cook, she said, "We're gonna cook for your brother." She gave Aaron $20, and, as his first investor, asked him for a business plan. His mother says the change was immediate. "He was grinning ear to ear" on the car ride home. He made a shopping list and immediately started baking cookies in honor of Eric.
His company, Dough Jangles, was officially started with a delivery of a tray of cookies to Dr. Corder's office, with an official list of how he'd spent her money.
Aaron and his mother bake the cookies and sell them. His big brother, Bryce, gets a fee for helping out as well. A portion of the proceeds go to the charities that helped them when Eric was sick. His brother is never far from Aaron's thoughts as he bakes. "I think he would be proud of me," he says. "I think he'd be happy that I didn't just give up."
Wouldn't your loved one be happy you didn't give up?
For me, I'm convinced I'd never have experienced skydiving, or the many other adventures in my life, had my sister not died. She gives me the courage to take risks and experience life to the fullest! When I'm not doing something adventurous, I'm still open to inspiration. Sometimes I feel like eating Snyder's bar-b-q chips for no apparent reason other than because my sister loved them and I imagine she's having a carnal craving. I celebrate her favorite color purple by wearing it when the spirit moves me. I run through fall leaves because that's what we used to do and because I can, or I rock out to Journey because something deep inside says she'd love that right now. As I feel the music thumping through my veins, I swear I can feel her dancing behind the beats.
What adventures would you take if you knew you were protected from above? What dreams would you dare to dream? Think about how your life could expand if and when you let go of your fear and Live for Two!
It's something to think about…
