Life + Stuff: End game
What will you regret on your death bed?
I recently read this very moving post written by palliative care worker Bronnie Ware. Here’s what she found were the common regrets among her dying patients:
1. They wished they’d been true to themselves, instead of living their lives to please other people.
2. They wished that they hadn’t worked so hard.
3. They wished that they’d had the courage to express their feelings.
4. They wished that they’d stayed in touch with their friends.
5. They wished that they’d let themselves be happy.
There’s so much conflicting advice out there about How to Be a Good Person. We are conditioned to seek the approval of others; to win, to get the gold star, to wear the uniform, to follow the rules.
We are taught to work hard, to turn the other cheek and to bite our tongues.
Today, I want you to do something. Look at that list and ask what you could do to avoid those regrets.
What do you need to change?
i always try not to work too hard. It makes me happy when I achieve this 🙂
I feel like I tick all those boxes. But perhaps I express my feelings tooooo much. Anyway, it’s somewhat satisfying to think I won’t have any deathbed regrets. Well, maybe I’ll regret the little things, but I hope not the big ones. A big topic for Friday arvo!
Thanks Em, you’ve brightened my day yet again. True words. It’s funny, people talk about bucket-lists a lot now and “100 places to see/things to do before you die” but do we really think we’re going to regret not bungy jumping from the Eiffel Tower or seeing the gorillas in Rwanda when we really are about to kick the bucket? When I had a near-death experience a few years ago, it actually made me want to slow down, smell those roses, breathe, appreciate the preciousness of life. Good thoughts to begin a weekend with…Have a lovely one.
I’ve always thought all I need is a brush with death (preferrably painless and with a swift recovery) Then I’d have death-bed perspective without having to die so soon afterwards… easy!
For some time now, my main regret has been murdering a lizard as an 8 year old.