What People Talk About before they die - article on CNN

by Gayle 4 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Gayle

  http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/28/my-faith-what-people-talk-about-before-they-die/?hpt=hp_c1

  this was off the CNN site today,,interesting,,
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  CandleLight

  I was at my Grandmothers bedside during the time she was dying. I agree with this person completely.
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  lisaBObeesa

  Beautiful article, thank you for posting it.
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  caliber

  I don't mean to be a thread stealer but I thought this tied in somehow... because

  it may help us avoid regret by learning from others before it is too late !

  Ms. Bronnie Ware, a woman who worked for years with the dying, wrote a list of the top 5 regrets people say aloud on their deathbed, we teared up a little bit here at TNW.http://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2011/05/31/the-top-5-regrets-people-make-on-their-deathbeds/2/
  1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
  This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
  2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
  This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
  3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
  Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
  4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
  5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
  This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have sillyness in their life again.

  The most important lesson seems to be love , love for our family and love for onesself to be the person we wanted to be and connect with others in a deeper truer sense

  "When the love is imperfect, or a family is destructive, something else can be learned: forgiveness. The spiritual work of being human is learning how to love and how to forgive."
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  shamus100

  Wow, Caliber, thanks for the link. We should always remember that being happy is a choice. ;)

  If I may add to those that lost their family to the high control group: You can get yourself another family. Be happy, do your best to be outgoing to your neighbours, do not nitpick, and you would be surprised how you can replace the one that you lost. People in 'the world' are wonderful, caring, and don't generally turn your backs on you unlike the paranoid, delusional jehovahs witnesses.

  Off topic a bit: As I get older I know that I am going to die - no matter how well I take care of my health or how healthy I choose to eat. I fear death, not because I will miss family and friends, but because I wonder what I have missed during the years in that silly group. It's easy to play the blame game, but what I have decided to do now is to live the best life that I can while I can still enjoy it. I hope each and every one of you can too.