TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING

TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING

It is regrettable that many people will leave this life with unfulfilled wishes and dreams. Their potential not being fulfilled. Burning desires left caged inside. Discontent. Regret. What would you do differently if this was your last day? OK, let’s be less pessimistic! –  Say, six months or a year? No doubt, that we would all instigate some change somewhere. Something. Somehow. Surely? We often take things for granted until we no longer have them. Health for example. Once that’s gone, many aspirations also perish  along with it. To enjoy the fruits of our lives, we need to  be in optimal health.  We all need to nurture ourselves – and live a great life.  As we are all meant to.  Yes, each and every one of us -there are no spare parts in the Universe.

I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly discuss the Top Five Regrets of the Dying, a book  published earlier this year.  The author is  Bronnie Ware (www.bronnieware.com)   who previously worked as a Palliative Care nurse here in Australia  (also a singer and writer).  She kept a blog (www.inspirationandchai.com)  from her conversations with  dying patients that she nursed in the last few precious weeks of their lives.  It seems that people obtained more clarity and growth  towards the end and when she asked her patients what they would do differently or  if they had any regrets, there were some common answers.  The top five regrets are outlined below.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the lives others expected of me.

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends

5. I wish I had let myself be happier

For more reading, go to http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html

It is important to think about your dreams and to take action towards their fulfillment.  Good health will ensure that you are able to enjoy all of life’s pleasures.  “Health brings a freedom very few realise until they no longer have it”.  Working too hard and being over-stressed  may bring a great income, but in the end, you do not want to  be the richest person in the graveyard!    Suppressed feelings can give rise to bitterness and resentment that can then lead on to illnesses. So express yourself. Let the truth be known. Be who you were meant to be. Free yourself.  Nurture your relationships with loved ones around you. “It all comes down to love and relationships in the end.  That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships”.  The last regret is interesting- how people had wished they had “let” themselves be happier.  Happiness is  indeed a choice and this was often not realised until the end.  “Life is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously,  Choose wisely, Choose honestly. Choose happiness”.

And finally, in the words of Jim Rohn, “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; It is something you design for the present”.