The 24 Regrets of the Dying

Not one of them wished they had played it safer.

Your biggest regrets will not be failures. They will be omissions.

The paths you never took. The person you loved and never told.

They married someone else. You still wonder.

Run the math. Don’t try: 100 percent chance of regret. Try and fail: zero.

At eighty, you will not regret the thing you attempted and lost. You will be proud you swung.

The thing you never attempted is different. That one haunts you every remaining year.

Why do we hold back? An audience.

Your spouse, your parents, your neighbors. A stranger leaving a comment on the internet.

You traded your one life for their opinion of it.

You get one short window between two eternities of nothing. Squeeze it.

Here is what the dying regret. Read them slowly.

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1. I wish I’d had the courage to be myself.
2. I wish I had spent more time with the people I love.
3. I wish I had made spirituality more of a priority.
4. I wish I hadn’t spent so much time working.
5. I wish I had discovered my purpose earlier.
6. I wish I had learned to express my feelings.
7. I wish I hadn’t worried about things that never happened.
8. I wish I had taken more risks.
9. I wish I had cared less about what other people thought.
10. I wish I had realized earlier that happiness is a choice.
11. I wish I had loved more.
12. I wish I had taken better care of myself.
13. I wish I had been a better spouse.
14. I wish I had paid less attention to other people’s expectations.
15. I wish I had quit my job and found work I enjoyed.
16. I wish I had stayed in touch with old friends.
17. I wish I had spoken my mind.
18. I wish I hadn’t chased the wrong things.
19. I wish I’d had more children.
20. I wish I had thought about life’s big questions earlier.
21. I wish I had touched more lives.
22. I wish I had traveled more.
23. I wish I had lived more in the moment.
24. I wish I had pursued more of my dreams.

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Notice the pattern. Not one wished they had played it safer. Not one wished they had worked more, worried more, or obeyed more.

“I lived so carefully, thinking someone was watching. But the stage was empty, the audience never came.” Osamu Dazai wrote that.

The audience you fear does not exist.

Look at the list again. Pick one. Cross it off while you still can.