Food for Thought: The Top Five Regrets of the Dying

This is from a book written by a hospice nurse. Here's the introduction and what she listed as the top five regrets of those who are dying. Interesting.

[i]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.
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1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This was the most common regret of all.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard. This came from every male patient that I nursed.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to themselves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.