The most common deathbed regret that can change your perspective on life
A healthcare professional has shared the most common life regret she hears from people who are on their deathbed.
Camilla Rowland, CEO of Palliative Care Australia, said that "death is the last taboo" in this age of over-sharing online, and is trying to break down that stigma by helping people reevaluate how they go about their day-to-day lives.
She told news.com.au, “We’ve become so great at discussing things that used to be taboo, but we’ve lost the ability to talk about death with one another.”
After a 30-year career in palliative care, Ms Rowland said there is one regret she hears continuously from people who are at the end of their life.
“Without a doubt, the regret I’ve heard time and time again is that people wish they’d spent less time working, and more time with the people they love,” she says.
“The other thing people might find surprising is that money doesn’t seem to have any effect on the way you look back at your life at the end."
“I once looked after an incredibly wealthy man at the end of his life and he had been one of those really busy guys – working 18 hours a day, achieving great success."
“I remember him saying to me: ‘You know what? I would give up all my boats, my houses, everything that I have just to have spent more time with my kids when they were young.’ I heard that time and time again from people."
“No matter which walk of life they were from, it was the quality of their relationships that mattered above all else.”
While Ms Rowland knows that talking about death and the end of our lives is a morbid, difficult topic, she says it's important to have those discussions with the people closest to us.
Having these conversations can help us share our end-of-life wishes with our family and friends, but also help us learn how to truly appreciate life from the people who came before us.
“When I think of those common deathbed regrets that pop up repeatedly, it’s a great reminder for us all to live more in the moment, with the people who matter most.”
Image credits: Getty Images