What is the most gut wrenching wake up call any of us will experience?
Coping with a serious health problem or terminal illness – this one usually puts everything into perspective. If you’re dealing with (or ever had to deal with) a serious illness or coping with a loved one who is going through life a threatening illness, you know what it’s like. From shock to an intense range of emotions– grief that is beyond description, anger, sadness, “aloneness,” and pain beyond any you’ve ever experienced.
For some people, dealing with serious illness triggers a microscopic look at your life – people, relationships, mistakes, regrets. Examining what and who is really important to you, and shifting priorities and attention to what really matters.
Why does it take something like this to get us to wake up? Why is it so hard to wake up earlier in our lives?
Bronnie Ware, a palliative nurse, wrote “The Top Five Regrets of The Dying,” which describes the most common regrets of the dying. See what made the list of regrets – and what many of us struggle to do in our lifetimes.
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.
Read more about the Top Five Regrets of the Dying
Most of us take our health for granted. We get concerned or overcome with work and family responsibilities and just dealing with our day to day busy lives. We end up losing connection with ourselves, partners, friends and with what really matters. Dealing with serious health issues is a powerful lesson we’d all like to avoid, but eventually we will all face one way or another. Can you wake up now, and not wait for serious illness to trigger changes that will make your life better?
