How can I be less afraid of dying?

This is sort of a cliche answer, but I feel not afraid of death, and more afraid of how I might die. I also feel tension around not having the chance to live a full life, and saying goodbye to my favorite people.

After a long career as a doctor and sitting at the bedside of hundreds of dying patients, including my own mother, I no longer have a fear of death. I know that death is a passage into the unknown but I trust that it can be a peaceful process when we have prepared ourselves and lived our best lives. My focus is on how I live in each moment so that when death comes I can let go of this life feeling satisfied that I have done my best with what I have been given. Through my experiences with the dying I have a sense that death is the end of the physical existence but not of the soul and I approach that transition with curiosity and wonder rather than fear.

Consciously contemplating the reality of our mortality and devoting time and energy to consider and plan ahead for your future—including your inevitable death—will change how you die and how you live, right here, right now, and for the rest of your life. People who engage

in inquiry-based, end-of-life planning, where they articulate their hopes and fears around their inevitable death, contemplate their core values and who and what matter most, feel enriched, energized and more connected to life and far less fearful of death.