The Top Five Regrets of the Dying and The Top Five Advices of my Father
Warning: The following entry discusses death, dying and morbid advices.
Australian Bronnie Ware (blog) has worked for many years in Surrey as a palliative carer. Now she's published her experiences in a book - "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying". I haven't read the book (yet), but I found her "top five" interesting.
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.
While this covers with my experiences with death: we can't always control how our life turns out to be. Some of us have to "work hard". Expressing your feelings can have very negative consequences in our society. The list is a good reminder to stop and look at life, though. Those regrets don't pop up out of the blue, they were there all through our lives. Maybe we should sometimes go through the list above, checking if there is anything we can - or want - to change.
My father has five basic rules in his life; you can probably tell that he used to be a funeral director. I always found them morbid, but helpful.
1. Make sure that you'll die a happy person with no regrets if you should be hit by a bus.
2. Always leave your work in a state that your successor can pick up where you finished without delay if you should drop dead tomorrow.
3. Avoid funerals of friends and always attend those of your enemies. You'll be a happier person.
4. If you really hate your family, don't make a will.
5. Make sure that you have a bucket list, but never tick off all items. You'll always have something to look forward to.
Molly originally posted this entry at http://joyful-molly.dreamwidth.org/361426.html. You can comment on LJ or DW, using OpenID.
Australian Bronnie Ware (blog) has worked for many years in Surrey as a palliative carer. Now she's published her experiences in a book - "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying". I haven't read the book (yet), but I found her "top five" interesting.
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.
While this covers with my experiences with death: we can't always control how our life turns out to be. Some of us have to "work hard". Expressing your feelings can have very negative consequences in our society. The list is a good reminder to stop and look at life, though. Those regrets don't pop up out of the blue, they were there all through our lives. Maybe we should sometimes go through the list above, checking if there is anything we can - or want - to change.
My father has five basic rules in his life; you can probably tell that he used to be a funeral director. I always found them morbid, but helpful.
1. Make sure that you'll die a happy person with no regrets if you should be hit by a bus.
2. Always leave your work in a state that your successor can pick up where you finished without delay if you should drop dead tomorrow.
3. Avoid funerals of friends and always attend those of your enemies. You'll be a happier person.
4. If you really hate your family, don't make a will.
5. Make sure that you have a bucket list, but never tick off all items. You'll always have something to look forward to.
Molly originally posted this entry at http://joyful-molly.dreamwidth.org/361426.html. You can comment on LJ or DW, using OpenID.