Top Five Regrets of the Dying

Bronnie Ware, a palliative nurse who specializes in care are counsel for the dying, identified the following five regrets as those most commonly expressed by the terminally ill in their last twelve weeks of life. Her findings, based on interviews, were published in a book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying – A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing. The top five regrets expressed by her patients are a little surprising:

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 hadn’t worked 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.

Each of the above statements is worthy of exploration and reflection. I’ll address each one in a future post. As the posts are published, the hyperlinks below will become active. I’ll reframe the statements, though, to state them positively. The top five joys of the living:

1. Courage to be True

2. Work

3. Courage to Feel

4. Friends

5. Happiness