The Top 5 Regrets a Nurse hears from the death bed

Over the span of my nursing career I have had the privilege to hold the hands of many people whose time had come to leave this world. Family, friends and strangers … I look at death different from a nurse’s point of view than many people. Not that I encourage it to show up any sooner for anybody but when the time comes, the last thing I want to hear someone say is “I wish I had… and I regret….” those are such powerful words that linger in my ears.

 

I remember asking my aunt who was dying of lung cancer …”Are you scared?” Her reply still to this day makes me smile. “No I am ready.”
 
I enjoy listening to TedTalks.com where there are speakers from all walks of life come to share a 20 minute talk on wide ranges of topics.

 

The talk that grabbed my attention and drew me in was by Jane Mcgonigal. Who is a game designer.
Jane mentioned, Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies.

 

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

I hear nurses weekly…and some sometimes daily talk about not being happy in the job they do. They still have to pay the bills and have food on the table but they are not doing what makes them happy.

As I began building a business online to transition out of nursing, I started finding things in nursing that made me happy and as I shared that in my business, I began seeing how that it is making changes in other people’s lives.

A message I received today from a lady who so encourages me stated “Really good to connect with you again! You are a constant inspiration to me!”

Another wonderful person sent a message that read “Thanks for caring! Means the world to me!”

The one that really touched me came last Monday “Angela I just wanted to thank-you for pushing me past what I believed I could do myself. Today I received my 2nd largest commission check that helped pay a bill my paycheck was not going to cover. This stuff is working. Thank- you for believing in me”

If we could add 7 1/2 minutes to our life what would we do with that extra 7 1/2 minutes? I can tell you it would not be work more over time, pay another bill…

Watch this video: Inspirational Power – Jane Mcgonigal,TED Talks – Finding Strength in Unexpected Places : Video Games

 

 Bronnie said: “This is a surprisingly common one. 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, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

 

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

My dream has always been to run my own business – after I watched this video and read Bronnie blog I looked at my business more than just blogging, and teaching people how to work online with the essential oils. I am helping people live their own dreams – be happy – and have no regrets.

I want to share my 7 1/2 minutes with you …. Now it is your turn.