Empowerment

5 Regrets of the Dying

You only have one life to live — make the most out of it.

By 

# 2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

The fact is we have to work. With the unstable economy nowadays, many work more than two jobs to support themselves and their families. Bronnie said that this regret was common among male patients she handled, but women also suffer this regret. They regret working so hard because they missed the growing stage of their children or their partner’s companionship because they were busy being breadwinners. Learn to balance by dividing time for work and time for family and friends. The key here is time management and essentially, work-life balance.

# 3. I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.

5 Regrets of the DyingWe tend to keep comments to ourselves to avoid conflict.  Bronnie wrote: “As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many ended up developing illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried.”

We can’t control others or their opinions, but there’s nothing more important than being yourself. Be honest; for nothing is more important than expressing yourself. Remember: many will appreciate it.

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Avatar of Hilary Rowland

A writer, artist, and designer since she was young enough to put pencil to paper, Hilary taught herself code and created Urbanette when she was a teenager. Currently, she lives in Monte Carlo, but spent the past decade living in NYC, still considers herself a New Yorker, and visits regularly. She's always traveling, looking for hot new topics, destinations, and life hacks to bring to Urbanette readers.

Reader Discussion: 140 Comments

  1. Avatar of Tracy Anderson

    Tracy Anderson

    Did you ever have a day when you said to yourself: “I could die now, I am so happy I could die without any regrets”
    I did, and I wish this to you all.

    • Avatar of Sasha Smith

      Sasha Smith

      I’m happy to hear that you are happy. Since you’re happy, I wish you to have a long life. 🙂

  2. Avatar of Alexiane Verdito

    Alexiane Verdito

    I’ve learned that the most important thing in life is to understand that nothing is really a big deal, we’re just here for a lifetime, and that’s not much. We just need to understand how ephemeral we are. Then all your troubles will seem a lot easier to handle. And your decisions too.

  3. Avatar of Keena Cotton

    Keena Cotton

    Just hope that you live long enough to correct the mistakes that will cause regret before you die.

  4. Avatar of Wanda Lwis

    Wanda Lwis

    Love the people around you. Not showing them enough of that will always be a regret that’s irreversible. It takes a lot of time for someone to actually feel that the love is genuine.

  5. Avatar of Sydney Freign

    Sydney Freign

    Don’t consider things that you enjoyed once, regrets. Other people say something like they regret loving someone, or forgiving that someone. But at that certain point in your life, it wasn’t exactly something that you regret.

  6. Avatar of Pauline E.

    It was a little late when I realized that my life should have been led by my own passion. It was only until my 8-year-old daughter told me that she was happy to get good grades because it made me happy as well. I was like her when I was younger. My life had consisted of hoarding achievements and good grades because I wanted to please my parents. As I got older, I realized I was wrong. I have begun living my life that is controlled by the happiness of other people to the point that I could never be pleased with myself. Everything was not enough for me. I’m still trying to tell my daughter that her life should be led by things that she knows her heart desires, not by my approvals or personal joys.

  7. Avatar of Reign Abella

    Reign Abella

    At some point in our childhood, I bet most of us wanted to be doctors. All because they cured almost anything that hurt when we were kids. No one actually told us about how expensive med school was, nor how our parents didn’t even have money for college. Sometimes as much as we want to follow our dreams, reality kicks in and we’re left with mediocre dreams that our bank accounts could allow.

  8. Avatar of Tricia Marie

    Tricia Marie

    “Never stop trying to improve yourself.” while living a happy life.

  9. Avatar of Tiffany Johnson

    Tiffany Johnson

    #1 is the main problem of the younger generation. As adults or parents, we fear that our own discontent is something that our children can fix. There are times that we end up passing on to them our fears and frustrations. Let’s not forget that our children are different from us, that they probably see the world differently than ours and they can build their ladders to success differently. Let’s not manipulate the future for them.

  10. Avatar of Amaya Perch

    Amaya Perch

    There was a time when I asked my grandfather that is now 85, about his regrets. He was a chain-smoker, until his 70’s. He decided to “try” to stop because of health reasons. Occasionally he would still crave the taste of nicotine in his lungs, but in his 80’s that’s when the habit truly stopped because his lungs no longer function the same way it did before. Now, he’s constantly using an oxygen tank and could hardly move around without catching his breath. He now has about 6 grandchildren. His regret was mainly how he let himself be a slave to cigarettes, to the point that it was the addiction itself that triggered numerous of health conditions. As much as he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren and watch them grow, that’s no longer possible.

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