For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.

 

I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

 

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

 

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.

 

Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed - World Observer Online

Very interesting read.

 

Are you guilty of any of the five? How many?

I'd say #1 and #2 are regrets most people probably share.

 

#2 is definitely the one that I'm guilty of. It's a never-ending non-stop cycle.

Number 2 will NEVER be on my list.

#2 and #5 and thats it.

Only regret I have isnt didnt spend more time with family.

Let's face it, just about anyone could have written this article. The population of her census can't be much more than 100 people or so, not a real big survey.

 

That said, I don't really meet any of them. At least not yet. Hopefully I have many years left to experience some regrets.

How about: I wish I had a better doctor.

One thing you never hear them say, "I wish I worked more."

Actually, #4 is something I regret. I sure lost touch with a lot of people from my youth and high school when I moved to KY. I think #5 is a fallacy. We can choose to be happy, even in the worst of circumstances.

I am working on #4. #1 haunts me. When I came out of Centre, scouts from both the Seattle Pilots and Chillicothe Paints baseball organizations told me I could come play right field for them, basically for meal money. I had accepted a job with National City Bank and was thinking about getting married, so I turned them down because it was "the right thing to do." Then I rescinded my job at National City because I got accepted to law school and thought I could make more money because it was "the right thing to do." My favorite job I've ever had was broadcasting high school football games, but I got out of it because my kids were small and it was "the right thing to do." I enjoy lawyering but its not really the type of lawyering that excites me and I'm in a rut. I actually think I'd be a hell of a police detective (I want the Jason Ellis case), but putting my wife in that position is not "the right thing to do." It seems like the "right thing to do," is never really what I want to do.

I think I'm guilty of all 5.

Maybe #4.

#2 for sure!!!

Number 1.

#6 I wish I'd never watched that UK vs Duke game

 

#7 I wish I'd picked at least one Derby winner

 

#8 I wish I'd spent more time on Bluegrasspreps