5 Top Regrets of the Dying Don’t wait until your health fails before living the life you want to liveby Bronnie Ware

[prasad1]

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For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to 12 weeks of their lives.

ROSS M. HOROWITZ /GETTY IMAGES
Words of wisdom on life from critically ill people realizing their time on earth is running out.
People grow a lot when they are faced with death.
For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to 12 weeks of their lives.

Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected: denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Yet every single patient found peace before departing. Every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced. Here are the most common five:

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

2. I wish I didn't work 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 that I had let myself be happier.​

Dying Regrets, Wise Advice and Life Lessons

5 common themes surfaced when patients on their dying bed were questioned about life regrets.

www.aarp.org

 

[renuka]

So Adi Shankara was right after all!
Bhajo Govindam states in verse 16:
Strength has left the old man's body; his head has become bald, his gums toothless and leaning on a stick.
Even then he can not let go of his attachment to hopes and desires.


Regrets are just another shade of desires.
Instead of having regrets as we age, we should have acceptance that we experienced life to realize we needed to let go of everything finally.
If we die with regrets we have just booked a next life to experience our desires again.
It would be a never ending process of enjoyment and suffering.