Regrets of the Dying

December 4th, 2011

In other news, Six in 10 Kiwis hate or dislike their job.

Via: Inspiration and Chai:

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.

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2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

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3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

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

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5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Posted in Elite, Health, Social Engineering | Top Of Page

One Response to “Regrets of the Dying”

  1. Eileen says:
    December 7, 2011 at 3:44 am

    I keep on reading this post thinking I should say something. Well, here it is. My Aunt Irene had a massive stroke on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The EEG of her brain showed that she was all black on one side of her brain – eg brain dead. According to her wishes, Aunt Irene was taken off the ventilator and died two days later. She had also put her insurance papers, her will, and her living will on the dining room table I suppose right before she had the stroke.
    Compared to the rest of her sisters, and my Mom, Aunt Irene was the lone ranger re getting out of here without a long illness.
    I like the list in the article but fer crying out loud, I wish a lot more people, myself included knew and accepted that they are not getting out of here alive. Maybe find something pleasant in the realization of that fact. And RIP Aunt Irene, you had to be one of the kindest, clearest, most loving persons I’ve known in my life.

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