Examining What Is Important to You

Let's start by looking at what is important to you. Write down the things that are important to you — including values, relationships and activities. Examples include being an honest person, having good relationships with your children and playing golf. Some of these things likely are not changed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), while other aspects of your life may have changed since you became ill. Some of these changes may be things you now have difficulty doing or abilities you have lost. Other changes may be differences in the way you look at your life, perhaps even for the better (for example, a new appreciation for the time you spend with your children).

Write down:

• What things are most important to me — including values, relationships and activities?

  • Which of these things are still the same, even with COPD?

  • Which of these things have changed since my COPD?

• What things are most important to my family — including values, relationships and activities?

  • Which of these things are still the same, even with COPD?

  • Which of these things have changed since my COPD?

As you review your answers to these questions, hopefully you will notice that some aspects of your life have not changed due to COPD, or that some changes have been positive.

Step 2: Experiencing and Managing Feelings of Loss