Are you part of the 33%?
I'm okay dying thirty years from now – I just want to be well-fed when it happens.
Which is why I recently revised my advance health-care directive: to bring it in line with my Catholic faith, specifically to ensure feeding and hydration whenever feasible. (Sometimes it isn't, so the new document allows for that as well.)
If you're not sure what's in your directive – or if you don't have one – you risk having decisions made about your life that you would not have chosen. Thankfully, this is a solvable problem.
Advance directives go by different names, depending on your home state. Statistics show only about a third of U.S. adults have one in place. Read: In a crisis, two thirds of us are setting up our families for an agonizing mess.
Again, a solvable problem – and the best time to solve it is when you're not in crisis. Spell out your wishes. Name people you trust to act on your behalf. Talk to them about your preferences ahead of time. Get a good attorney if you need one.
Get the document signed and notarized. Put it where it can be easily found. Your loved ones will thank you. You will thank yourself, and you will probably sleep better, which is going to help you live longer and happier.
And if you're already in the the 33%? Reward yourself for a job well done. But maybe also take a moment to review your instructions to make sure they still reflect what you would want today.
P.S. If you're curious about the Catholic view, check out the app Truth.ly.
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." – Judy Garland