In the book, The Fourth Quarter of Your Life, Matthew Kelly says that he once spent quite a bit of time with a group of hospice nurses. He says he wondered over and over again, “How do they do it?”

One day at lunch Kelly was sitting with five or six hospice nurses and he asked them, “When people are dying, what do they talk about?” The nurses told him that when people are dying they say how they would have wished they had lived their lives differently.

Here is a sampling of what the nurses shared with Kelly, 24 things dying people wished they had done differently –

• I wish I’d had the courage to just be myself.
• I wish I had spent more time with the people I love.
• I wish I had made spirituality more of a priority.
• I wish I hadn’t spent so much time working.
• I wish I had discovered my purpose earlier.
• I wish I had learned to express my feelings more.
• I wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about things that never happened.
• I wish I had taken more risks.
• I wish I had cared less about what other people thought.
• I wish I had realized earlier that happiness is a choice.
• I wish I had loved more.
• I wish I had taken better care of myself.
• I wish I had been a better spouse.
• I wish I had paid less attention to other people’s expectations.
• I wish I had quit my job and found something I really enjoyed doing.
• I wish I had stayed in touch with old friends.
• I wish I had spoken my mind more.
• I wish I hadn’t spent so much time chasing the wrong things.
• I wish I’d had more children.
• I wish I had touched more lives.
• I wish I had thought about life’s big questions earlier.
• I wish I had traveled more.
• I wish I had lived more for the moment.
• I wish I had pursued more of my dreams.

These are the regrets of dying people who were out of time. Each regret contains a powerful lesson for those of us who are still living, an invitation to make the most of the time we have left.

Looking over this list, what regrets do YOU have?  Is there anything YOU can still do about them?

BE WHO GOD WANTS YOU TO BE AND NOT WHAT OTHERS WANT TO SEE!

Today’s is an important message to share, especially with those who are younger in life. Do share it and please listen to my Podcast.