What Do People Most Regret Right Before They Die?

Am I being selfish, or am I pursuing my dreams? Am I doing adequate soul searching, or am I over-analyzing everything? In this journey, it can be hard to tell if I am on the right track.

One thing is for sure, we'll probably know when we reach the 'deathbed scenario'. When we look back on our lives, how will we feel about what we see?

In a very interesting article, a nurse who worked in palliative care (an area that is focused on relieving pain of the sick and diseased, and sometimes, but not necessarily terminal patients) reveals the regrets she most often heard from her patients who were about to die.

Here are a few of the things people told her when they were about to die.

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 realize 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 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.

 

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

This one may be easier for us to understand, and to take action upon. Last year, I felt like I was doing nothing but working. While I have big goals, most that involve recreation, I don't want to avoid time I could be enjoying now because I'm working so hard to create time for later. I've always loved this insight.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what  others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Happiness is a choice. We've believed this on the show for a long time.

Here is the rest of this great article from AriseIndiaForum.com