TOP Regret of DYING - Demystified

Recently, I came across an article that listed the top five regrets of dying listed down by nurse who counsels the dying . Till now, these regrets have been shared across many platforms and seen by millions.

It is important and helpful to learn from others experiences especially from someone who has nothing to loose. However, even this Truth is normally filtered because of our perception and limited understanding of Life. Although it is worth it to pick up each regret, this article just focuses on the first and to some extent, the second.Before continuing further, it is important to know that all the top regrets are related to Heart. That should be enough to understand that the Joyful and Beautiful dimension of life is lived through heart - not through mind. If anything is related to mind in top five regrets, it is about using mind less (say working less) so that one has a chance to Live Life - Laugh Love Dance Sing Enjoy Share - dimensions that relate to Heart.The Fact is - Only and Only one who has lived life fully, completely and happily can embrace death without any fear. To RIP after death, learn to RIP before Death!!The top regret of Dying - "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."

A lot of us who regard ourselves successful in careers might think that we know what that means - pursue our ambitions and goals but if that were true then the second regret of dying would be untrue which incidentally is the regret of every dying man the nurse counseled- I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

So what being True to Myself means. Before trying to understand this statement - let us go back to the days we were born. Even if you don't remember these days, you will be able to relate this with what happens nowadays. A baby is born. He/She is utterly happy and contended. But the pressure starts to mount up - He needs to learn ways of the world. Then he needs to excel at basically everything. At least in India, even small kids are expected to top the class or any activity they participate in. Because we have built the whole culture around competing in basically everything - even in creative acts such as singing and dancing which are supposed to give joy - everything turns stressful. And this is where as kids we start moving away from our Blissful inner core.

We come to the Planet to live a joyful life, to live the beauty of life but whole society conditions us (because it itself is conditioned) and gives us ambitions - they are not our own. Only if you have this new luxury car, you can be happy. Only if you achieve fame, you can be happy -- How many of the parents tell their kids that you are beautiful and lovely the way you are. We unconsciously even expect so much out of babies that we won't even let them sleep or cry - ever seen relatives or friends trying to wake babies up? That literally is torturous for the baby! So children have a lot of expectations to fulfill. And hence, Happiness becomes conditional - even for children nowadays.This covers up the true Happy self we actually are and we start living dreams of the society to make others in our circles happy( initially parents, then relatives, then friends and then the whole world!!!) and eventually we live the best years of our life working very hard but not living a Joyful life. Yes, there are moments - moments when we are in love, when we are kind, when we are with nature or with babies who are unconditionally happy and so on that give us a glimpse of Happiness of the Heart.In no way is this regret against working hard (that is an absolute necessity for overall success in life) but for sure if one misses the other part of life that connects one to the innermost joyful and blissful core, this regret will haunt that person who is on death bed. Even the second regret, I wish I hadn't worked so hard, is actually not against working hard but missing the Joyful part of life that is lived through Heart. Achieve luxuries of life but do not get so lost that you forget that the Ultimate Luxury in life for which you started chasing all other luxuries is Heartfelt Joy or Happiness. True Happiness is Unconditional.

Death is Always in the Present moment. One who learns the art of staying in the ever joyful Present moment (check out my T.A.R. methodology to incorporate Acceptance in Life in Modern world's fast paced scenario) dies peacefully without any regrets!

Learn to live a Life beyond the Ordinary - A Life full of Meditation, Wisdom, Creativity and Celebration - A life full of  Peace, Joy, Love and Laughter and regrets in any situation will be a thing of the Past.

Here is a question for you - If you had only 24 hours to live, what would matter the most to you?