I stumbled upon this essay about deathbed regrets.
I thought it was worthy of a coffee contemplation. Here are the five most common regrets expressed by the dying:
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 with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Broadly speaking, it seems most people wish for a more meaningful life.
Not the most cheery thing to be thinking about on a Saturday morning.
But it might just be the push you need to make the changes you’ve been avoiding or to do the thing you’ve been saying you’ll do someday.
Note: the essay takes a different slant and encourages people to be skeptical of deathbed regrets. But, then, that’s what philosophers do, isn’t it?
Anyway, here’s the link to the full essay.