This entire excerpt below is from the Book : Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly, chapter 10, Get Busy Living, P.50-51.
The wish list below was compiled by the author Matthew Kelly’s interview with a handful of hospice nurses who listed for Matthew what dying people they ministered to wished they had done differently in their life:
-I wish I had the courage to just be myself
-I wish I had spent more time with the people I love
-I wish I had made spirituality more of a priority
-I wish I hadn’t spent so much time working
-I wish I had discovered my purpose earlier
-I wish I had learned to express my feelings more
-I wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about things that never happened
-I wish I had taken more risks
-I wish I had cared less about what other people thought
-I wish I had realized earlier that happiness is a choice
-I wish I had loved more
-I wish I had taken better care of myself
-I wish I had been a better spouse
-I wish I had paid less attention to other people’s expectations
-I wish I had quit my job and found something else I really enjoyed doing
-I wish I had stayed in touch with old friends
-I wish I had spoken my mind more
-I wish I hadn’t spent so much time chasing the wrong things
-I wish I’d had more children
-I wish I had touched more lives
-I wish I had thought about life’s big questions earlier
-I wish I had traveled more
-I wish I had lived more in the moment
-I wish I had pursued more of my dreams
These are the regrets of dying people, people who were out of time. Each of them contains a powerful lesson for those of us who are still living.
It is good and healthy to think about death from time to time. It puts things in perspective and reminds us what really matters. The perspective that death is inevitable reminds us to get busy living.
Key Point – It is healthy to reflect on the fact that life is short and we are all going to die.
Action step – If you died today, what would you wish you had done differently?
Reflect!
Charles DeFeo: Catholic Blogger and Useless Servant of Christ 