Live your life now

Please: don’t wait to live your life until the right moment arrives, until you retire, until … whatever happens … Live your life now, live your life today, thoughtfully, lovingly … but: TODAY! NOW!

Australian Bronnie Ware has spent many years as a caregiver for dying people. She got to know the very broad palette of emotions that come up in these last moments of life: anger, rage, remorse. From what she saw and heard, she listed the five main regrets of people and has now written them down in a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship.
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. Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
5. I wish I had let myself be happier. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions.
Life is a dance, alone, or with beloved persons. Happiness is a choice and everybody has to make this choice on his own. But you have to make it soon! Time is the only thing, once spent, never comes back.

What’s your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change? And WHEN?

shared with you, borrowed from -Marlis Egger | Textile Art marlis.egger@ticino.com