An interesting article has been circulating in the news recently. Written by a nurse, it shares the five most common regrets people share while on their deathbed.
One regret in particular really stands out to me. It stands out because I know that it doesn’t have to be a regret. Before I share what I know can immediately be changed, let me share the list of the five regrets with you:
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I didn’t work so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
You can make a decision today to let yourself be happier. Happiness is a decision, a state of mind and a perspective lens through which you choose to see the world. We don’t know when our deathbeds will arrive; it is impossible to know. However I do know that there is something you can do today to fight regret.
Fight regret by taking action on something today. The easiest thing you can do immediately is to give yourself permission to be yourself. It’s up to you to decide to live a life that is true to yourself and not the life others expect of you.
In this week of Thanksgiving, one way to express gratitude is to start making the changes that you need to make in order to appreciate and savor the life that you are living. It is easy (and the common thing to do) to go through life without thinking about it. You are meant to thrive, not survive, in this world. Start thriving today with a decision to really live and by doing so you will end up with avoiding the five deathbed regrets of the common.
You deserve to live an uncommon life. You deserve a life that is without regrets, and so, today I want you to let yourself be happier by giving yourself permission to be you.