In Your Life: What Do You Regret Most?

I have my share of regrets, still I've tried to live my more recent years regret free. Strengthening bonds with family and friends, and doing all I can to make those closest to me know how much they are loved. There are those who spend their final days expressing their deepest regrets and some of those have been captured in a book written by a care giver. -Matt Appleby

Be yourself … Bronnie Ware, a woman who spent eight years caring for people who were dying, says in their last days, her patients would reveal their regrets in life. And according to Ware, there was one regret in particular that was common among most patients – that they had lived a more authentic life. Ware says the regret most often shared with her was: "I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me." Other common regrets, according to Ware, were:

• I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
• I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
• I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
• I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Ware shares what she learned from her patients in a book called The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying.