Death Regrets

A palliative care nurse, Bonnie,  in Australia was in the habit of asking her patients if there was anything they would do differently in their lives, or if they had any regrets. "The thing about deathbed regrets is that it is too late to do anything about them. We have to change things now," she said.  The five most common themes that surfaced time and again were as follows:

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.