I came across this post this morning by an Australian woman (her blog, Inspiration and Chai) who worked in palliative care. She’d chat to dying people about their regrets. Now she’s put together a list of the most common ones she’d come across.
It’s amazing how they’re really just the “regrets of the living”. I regret often that I’m not living to these principles. I’m conscious that working too hard and not choosing the happy choices is not “what life is meant to be about”. But somehow I think there’ll be time for that later…But, of course, habits form, days go by where you don’t stand back and have a good look at your life, and soon enough you’re 75.
My big mantra right now is: this isn’t a dress rehearsal. This is the real thing, there’s no run-up. You simply have to choose now to live out the things you fear you’ll regret. You choose to work less. You choose the happy option. No bones about it. And, besides, why bloody not?? I mean, really??
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.