At every stage of life we are growing and changing. Growth and change are intimately connected. When change occurs in our lives we adapt to it. We become new versions of ourselves, which is to say we grow.
The pattern is the same now as when you developed from child to adolescent to adult. It is the same as when you began a new relationship, took a new job, moved to a new town or began your retirement. Change leads to growth and in growing we open the door to further change.
What waits on the other side of the door is never completely clear. This is nowhere more true than when you face your own dying. Change is part of the whole process of dealing with advanced illness. In both the physical consequences of disease and in your relationships with those around you, you have many changes to deal with. Although they may not be the changes you would have asked for if given a free choice, they are the changes that you face today. In facing them you have opportunities to grow.
