It is very early on a Saturday morning, maybe a quarter to seven. It is still dark out, and my girlfriend has barely stirred, only turning her head once to look at me when I turned on the computer. It was almost as if she were asking me, without any actual words spoken, just what I thought I was doing, making noise - the computer makes some noise when it runs. Not much, but she once compared it to a vacuum cleaner. She is a light sleeper, and almost anything can wake her up.
I am writing right now, before setting off for work this morning. It is unusual, because my normal work shift is for the afternoons with this job. But I switched with my coworker, because my girlfriend wants to go dancing with her friends later tonight. She has been talking about it almost since we first met, or at least first started getting serious. Then, she mentioned this date a month or two ago. How could I not be there, with so much advanced notice?
So, I made the arrangements and necessary switches, and here I am. Usually, Friday nights/Saturday mornings are my free time. I have Tuesday nights and all of Wednesdays off as well, normally, but Friday into Saturday is usually my time to go our. So, it was unusual not to be able to sleep in as usual for a Saturday morning.
Still, there is something about early mornings. I love when it is still early enough that it is dark, when the light of day has not yet risen. There is something almost romantic and surreal about it. The first time that I remember being up so early was when my aunt in France woke my brother and I up at some ungodly hour before the sun rose, and we started on a long drive into their second home way out in the French countryside, not far from the German border. The streets had been so deserted, the morning had been a little chilly, and much to my surprise, I actually liked it. Traditionally, I had never been a morning person. But I liked it on that day, and got plenty of opportunities since to enjoy that same feeling, very early in the mornings.
Now, this is not actually all that early, although the dark (which kind of surprises me this late) and the absolute quiet (it is a Saturday morning, after all) make it feel much earlier than it probably is. This was kind of a lazy morning for me. Did not even make myself breakfast. Just one cup of hot coffee, and a bit of reading while lying on the couch, before the shower to fully awaken. Here, I am just trying to squeeze out one fairly substantive blog before going off to work, to set my own mind at ease.
Perhaps it is too early in the morning to think about this, although maybe it's the perfect time. Who knows?
But this article was far too interesting, and provokes a lot of thought, actually, because it deals with the most serious issue that any of us can think about: life's regrets, and what we are actually making out of our lives. Heavy stuff, given the early hour, and rather strict time constrains on my end. And it may seem like I am more than a little distracted, talking about the romance of the early morning. But there is a point, and it is this: somehow, the early morning, when I am the only one seemingly awake, makes me feel very alive. I love utilizing that time, when I can, to be active, and get as much done while it remains quiet. That is what I am doing right now, trying to get some reading and writing done before the full weight of the day crashes on me. More than that, though, the early morning, before everything comes alive and fully alert, always makes me feel, well, I don't know. Alive, yes. But awake to something more in the world. Not just outright awake, but awake to some kind of awareness, if that does not sound too crazy.
Point is, I like it. Have long enjoyed it, actually.
So, maybe I am ready to talk about weighty matters. We shall see.
Still, here goes...
What do most dying people regret the most as they feel the final moments of their lives ticking away? What is it that they wish they had done differently, as they feel the approach of their last breath in their failing bodies?
These are difficult questions, and they would suggest a serious approach. Hopefully, it should serve as a revelation, as something that we might ourselves relate to, because more likely than not, we can relate to the dying. It might terrify us to think about our own demise, someday, but everyone has to face it some time. None of us are immortal. We are all going to die at some point.
So, asking ourselves this question, of what we might regret the most upon our death beds demands our attention, and forces us to focus on trying to truly think about ways that we might improve our lives, and make our lives more meaningful, somehow.
It is no easy subject, and for many, the mere thought might seem overwhelming.
But there are people who would know what most people regret on their deathbed, of course: those who are at the side of the dying more often than anyone else.
Below is a link to an article from just such a person, who's job put her on the side of the dying very frequently. If anyone should have an idea of what it is that most people seem to regret in their deathbed, she would be the prime candidate. And she wrote a very interesting and revealing (and perhaps a little scary) article on the subject.
No, this is not some ghostly Halloween trick, or attempt to scare you. This is an examination of what it is people come to realize they wished that they had done with their life if either they had more time, or if they could go back and do things over again. Nothing light about that, and I think that it might provide us some insight about what we ourselves may wind up regretting the most, if we also choose to ignore this. Some of them might seem surprising, and some may seem similar to others. But ultimately, we need to keep in mind that this is, quite literally, deadly serious. What is more important than the meaning of our lives? After all, that is, truly, the only thing that we have that we can truly call our own, and we only get one shot. Here are words of advice of a sort from some who have lived out their lives, and give us a clue, at the very end of their life, about the things that truly matter the most.
It is a fascinating piece, and I hope that you take a look:
Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed by Bronnie Ware, December 22, 2011:
http://www.ariseindiaforum.org/nurse-reveals-the-top-5-regrets-people-make-on-their-deathbed/
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