Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing

by Bronnie Ware

If we are to be able to face our own inevitable death with honest acceptance, before we have reached that time, then we need to shift our priorities well before it’s too late.

Acknowledging our inevitable, approaching death offers us the opportunity to find greater purpose and satisfaction in the time we have remaining.

‘I mean it. Promise this dying woman that you will always be true to yourself, that you will be brave enough to live the way you want to, regardless of what other people say.’

The most important thing I have learnt in life though, the absolutely most important, is that compassion starts with yourself.

We spend so much time making plans for the future, often depending on things happening at a later date to assure our happiness or assuming we have all the time in the world, when all we ever have is our life today.

‘It’s just that the chase for more, and the need to be recognised through our achievements and belongings, can hinder us from the real things, like time with those we love,

An 84-hour week is not healthy for anyone, even if you love the work you do.

‘If I can leave any good in this world besides my family, I leave these words. Don’t work too hard. Try to maintain balance. Don’t make work your whole life.’

people work too hard for all sorts of reasons. Often they think there is no choice, because they cannot get off the wheel of routine with bills and supporting their family.

If we work together as a community, we don’t need as many resources. There is less waste and we learn to help each other out.

‘Children are happier having more time with their parents than having more toys.

The things that keep a baby most comfortable at the very beginning are food and the release of their bowels and wind. At the end of life, the questions everyone asks of the dying person are if they are still eating and are their bowels working properly.

He felt he had missed the opportunity to create loving warmth with his children. The only example he had ever set was how to earn and value money. ‘What is the point of that now?’ he sighed.

Millions of people are not destined to live a long life. It is the assumption we will all live forever, or at least until a very advanced age, that brings so much shock and despair when someone young dies.

None of us ever know when it will be too late. Tell people you love them. Tell them you appreciate them. If they can’t accept your honesty or react in a different way to how you hoped, it doesn’t matter. What matters is you have told them.’