regrets of life, b4 death

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 in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

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.

Here are mine - 

 1. Yes, I dedicated to much time to work most especially in my younger days. At times it defined me. Now I try to let me define my work. 

2. I didn't tell my family how much I loved them. I tell my beautiful wife and my awesomely wonderful children this quite often. It is my siblings and parents that I need to tell this too.

3. Coincidence. I don't believe in it. So therefore when something seems coincidental I would like to more aptly take advantage of it. Grab it, embrace it and not ever look the other way. 

4. I wish I had the wisdom of today many yesterday's ago. Alas.....that ain't gonna happen now is it. That being said--  I wish I would have followed my heart more and not my brain. My heart is much smarted then my brain. 

5. I wish I had learned a trade with my hands. Be it a carpenter, a mason, a musician, an artist, a sculptor.......I find beauty in creating things and as I write this @ 49 (next week!) I realize time is disappearing with each keystroke. 

6. Yes, I am taking advantage of my blogging rights and adding a #6. There's this bible verse- Encourage one another daily as long as it is called today. Most people would say I am an encourager and while I can agree to an extent, I think I can do better. 

Special thanks on today's blog to Nurse Ware, theguardian (www.guardian.co.uk ) and of course God's word (Hebrews 3).