Today's reality, Moving House, Societal Changes and Death

How many times have you moved house? If you’ve been around for a few decades no doubt you’ve moved numerous times possibly in different parts of the world. I have, 53 times.

Yes that sounds a lot but career and life generally has caused me to be a nomad and I wasn’t wealthy to do that, the opposite. Aussies love travel, and now people around the world are moving more times in life than they were decades ago. And that, has unexpected implications.

Now, add this to the equation. The population mix is changing and aging in most developed countries in the western world. Australia's certainly is.

Low fertility rates, increased life expectancy and people living healthier lives are factors that are generating a profound change in the way society functions along with all the moves we make.

Why is this worth mentioning?

We’re all adding years to our life and soon, those living over 50 years will almost equal, if not exceed, those under 50. Put simply, 1 in 2 Australians for example, will be over 50 years. Issues and preparation surrounding our third age, or our 'third act' of life, are becoming increasingly more complex, with many more people living alone with no real family support.

We all know life is full of unexpected surprises.

The one surprise is this: we are all going to be faced with a subject none of us like to address. Death, it’s in the media a lot. Whether it’s a family member dying through age, or sudden accident or illness it hurts. But then it could be a neighbor, a friend, or someone we hardly know and, we may be called in to help. I was. Would you know what to do? I didn’t.

Today due to lifestyle, living longer, living alone many may die and not be found for days.

My mother died and wasn’t found for several days – that’s an awful memory to carry. While we don’t want that to happen to our loved ones even ourselves, we could be faced with having to pack up another person’s possessions, and locate their family and friends too. Executors handle legal matters generally not sorting and dispersing household possessions. I’ve had to. It was hard particularly when there was no guidebook around on what you can and can’t do, what to do, or how to do it.

It’s daunting, and I now know it needn’t be. When I first faced the task I wanted to make sure I did everything properly, so I had to find out the hard way and just do it.

Many people have never had to face the task of wrapping up or packing up for another but in the future everyone most likely will. I have now five times, then I researched the whole issue and found people were absolutely desperate for information, so I wrote a book to help others. It’s not maudlin, it’s full of life, because 200+ personal anecdotes from Australians are intertwined amongst the practical information.

I’ve learned, we all need to be prepared. Life is full of unexpected surprises. Yes you guessed it, my book is called ‘Wrapping It Up - The Ultimate Guide’.