The Top Life Regret of Dying Hospital Patients

I recently happened upon a short article, “Top Five Regrets of the Dying” by Bronnie Ware, who spent many years nursing people who had gone home to die. Their most common regret? “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” Their second most common? “I wish I didn’t work so hard.” There are two way

Her patients’ number one regret was wishing they’d had the courage to live a life true to themselves—as opposed to the life that others expected of them. It’s a regret about not pursuing your dreams, and therefore having those dreams go unfulfilled.

Once an Australian nurse named Bronnie Ware, who cared for people in the last twelve weeks of their lives, recorded their most often discussed regrets. At the top of the list: “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”6

You have to imagine your own death. When your time comes, what will you regret not doing? What will you wish you had more time to do, and what will have seemed trivial? Think of what you fear losing—those are the things that matter most.

Bronnie Ware has taken care of many elderly people in the final stages of their lives. In a blog post titled, “Five Regrets of The Dying,” one of the most viewed online posts, she shared her reflections. The most common regret? Not staying “true to themselves” in their lives and focusing too much on what others expected of them. The reason articles

Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse who served patients for the final weeks of their lives, wrote a moving article called “Regrets of the Dying.” She shared the five most common regrets of the people she had come to know: 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. (“Most people had not honoure

Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse working in palliative care, recorded what she perceived to be the top five regrets of the dying. They were: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. I wish I had stayed in touch wi

number one regret was wishing they’d had the courage to live a life true to themselves—as opposed to the life that others expected of them. It’s a regret about not pursuing your dreams, and therefore having those dreams go unfulfilled.