On the Fringes of Life

 The Write Tribe Wednesday Prompt # 7
 
Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart. – Winnie the Pooh

In her book 'The Top Five Regrets of the Dying' a nurse rendering palliative care writes about the most common regrets people have at the end of their lives. Most of the comments posted on this article were compulsively readable and thought provoking.

Some said that the nurse was out to make money from the misery of her patients. Others  said, they had no regrets at all.

I really pity the vain girl who wrote, ‘If I were to die in the next few minutes, I would regret the fact that I've still not gotten dressed yet.’

Then there was a guy who said, ‘I don't need to be on my deathbed to regret not having more sex - it's a recurring sentiment every morning. ’

A pessimist filled with a sense of futility, commented, ‘God, I regret being born. It's just years of sorrow and regret and then decay and death.’

This article compelled me to introspect. The top five regrets according to the nurse were:

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

I have to admit that I was true to myself, so no regrets on this account.

I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

 I wish I had worked hard. Being inherently lazy, and inspired by Bertrand Russell’s famous essay, ‘In Praise of Idleness’, I have ample idleness and leisure in my life.

I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.

I wish I could hide some. I display emotions with childlike ease which complicates situations.

I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

I don’t have many friends, but I am satisfied with my limited trusted list of friends. No regrets.

I wish I had let myself be happier.

Let me rephrase this one. I wish I was not a worrier. I wish I was less anxious about things that were not in my control. Events in life have unraveled and unfolded in unimaginable ways. And worrying never solved any problem. Never.

Since the first four regrets were not on my list, I pondered over the fifth one. How was it possible to let myself be happier? More sport, more music, more travel, more places is all I can think. But the real answer eludes me.

The answer perhaps is in giving more, and not asking for more. Maybe, giving happiness is the only way happiness can come in our lives.
But no point waiting for apocalypse to figure out regrets, if any.  Now is the time.

Picture Courtesy: Flickr/winter-light