We are all dying...

Not the funnest thing to contemplate, but it's true...we are all dying. Therefore, I want to be as happy as I can be during this short time that I have here. Sometimes I feel like life is full of struggles, constantly. Some struggles are not necessarily in our control, but how we respond to them is. How we live our lives and the intentions we set are in our control. I'm going to venture to say that our thoughts, attitudes and intentions have a lot to do with our happiness in this life. Since our time here is limited, I want to spend as much time as possible in a place of joy, peace and contentment. I have some work to do.

I stumbled upon a very cool article by Bonnie Ware, called "Regrets of the Dying." As a woman who worked with people who were living the last weeks of their lives, she brilliantly started asking them what their regrets were and wrote about it. Bonnie began to see themes and commonalities in what people regretted most. The top five are as follows:

1. Failing to live a life true to oneself. 

This included having many unfulfilled dreams, which was usually a result of one's own actions. This was the most common regret. To me, the most striking words from this section are: "Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it." It's amazing how much we all take for granted. It's also amazing how often we do not live life true to ourselves.

2. Working too hard. 

This included missing out on important life events and the depths of relationships, while instead spending so much time working. All of the time we spend will never come back to us, ever. So spending it in a way that is not fulfilling for so many hours a day is heartbreaking. One way of changing this, as Bonnie mentioned, is to simplify one's life so that we are not so dependent upon income and work. This frees up more time to spend on those things we find enjoyable, healthy, creative, etc.

3. Not expressing one's feelings fully. 

This is definitely one I've felt as the result of losing loved ones. Taking a look at it from the other angle, as in one's own death, it becomes equally important to always be honest with one's self about what we are feeling and expressing those feelings in the most appropriate way.

4. Losing touch with friends. 

Bonnie explains that people really miss their friends when they are dying and regret getting so caught up in their own lives, that they let friendships fade and even disappear. People regret not making time for friendships and not putting more effort into them. The words that really had a deep impact on me were: "It all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships." Not money, not success, not belongings...

5. The wish to have let oneself be happier. 

This seems like such a simple thing, but when it comes down to it, it can be very challenging, for a multitude of reasons. One reason specifically mentioned in the article, is fear of change. Getting stuck in old patterns and believing the illusion that one is happy in comfort, when in reality, one is not. "Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice." Amen. This is why I'm writing this post. I am witnessing areas in my life where the happiness factor could be turned up a few notches, and I'm feeling frustration that I feel this way. There's only one choice; do something about it. Time ticks away at an amazingly fast pace, there's no time to waste; no time to waste in achieving true happiness and living a life as true to oneself as possible.

Please visit the following page to read Bonnie's entire article:http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html