{"id":17911,"date":"2024-08-09T05:44:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T05:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shop-cili.com\/?p=17911"},"modified":"2024-08-09T05:44:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T05:44:32","slug":"how-to-mindfully-avoid-the-top-five-regrets-before-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shop-cili.com\/?p=17911","title":{"rendered":"How To Mindfully Avoid the Top Five Regrets Before Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In 2021, for D\u00eda de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), I visited a cemetery in Mexico. The gate of the cemetery was adorned with the following phrase: Polvo eres y a ser polvo tornar\u00e1<\/em>, which translates to, \u201cDust you are and to dust you will return.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of us will eventually disintegrate into dust, and our lives will have been just a blip in this universal timeline. Think about the dinosaurs\u2014they roamed Earth for 165 million years, yet in the span of 4.5 billion years, the age of Earth, their existence was but a blip.<\/p>\n
If we live to be 80, our existence will have been but a speck of theirs. Life is short in the grand scheme of things. Let\u2019s spend less time worrying and more time living\u2014living in the present moment. Tomorrow isn\u2019t guaranteed, and all we have is now; this very moment in time. A moment that we\u2019ll never get back and a moment that is different from any other moment that we\u2019ve ever had and ever will have.<\/p>\n
How do you want to spend the little moments that make up your life? What would you do if you had 24 hours left to live?<\/p>\n
Take a moment to reflect on this.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve heard from other people:<\/p>\n
\n
That question stopped me in my tracks. My first thoughts were, \u2018Well, not what I\u2019m doing right now.’\u201d<\/li>\n
\u201cThis question made me sad after I thought of my answer.\u201d<\/li>\n
\u201cI would hug my son and husband nonstop and tell them how much I love them.\u201d<\/li>\n
\u201cThis gives me immediate anxiety, but it\u2019s a nice reminder to carpe diem<\/em>!\u201d<\/li>\n
\u201cSay goodbye to my most important peeps and eat warm chocolate chip cookies while looking at the ocean and strolling through an ancient redwood forest. I wouldn\u2019t worry about a thing.\u201d<\/li>\n
\u201cI would invite everyone I could to the beach, huddle around the bonfire and say what needs to be said. Hug, laugh and eat all my favourite things.\u201d<\/li>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve considered this plenty of times before. Spend the day with my family. Spending quality time with those you love is what really matters in life.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are common threads here. Many people talk about wanting to spend time with their loved ones and doing the things they enjoy. It\u2019s the simple things in life that bring us joy, yet most of us spend our days (and our days make up our lives) either worrying about things that ultimately have little consequence at the end of the line or chasing things that we think will bring us happiness\u2014money, status, promotions\u2014none of which were provided as responses to my question.<\/p>\n
I, myself, have reflected on this question, and here\u2019s what I\u2019ve gathered:<\/p>\n
I would prioritize forgiveness and let go of things that no longer serve me<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
If I had 24 hours, would I spend it holding on to grudges because someone wronged me in the past? Would I spend it regretting a mistake I made? The answer to both questions is no. <\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know when we\u2019re going to die. I hope I never reach a place where I leave this world holding grudges, whether it\u2019s against other people or myself. Forgiveness may not happen overnight, but we all have to start somewhere. Why not start now?<\/p>\n
I would live more fearlessly<\/h2>\n\n
It\u2019s easy to put things off when we\u2019re afraid and when we think we have time. \u201cWell, if it doesn\u2019t happen today, it\u2019ll happen tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n
Would you put things off if you knew you had 24 hours? Recognizing my mortality helps me put things into perspective. Things that may seem scary don\u2019t seem so scary after all because I\u2019d much rather have tried than regret and wonder what could\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d focus on what is\u2014right here, right now<\/h2>\n\n
Most of us walk around clouded by our own thoughts\u2014ruminating about the past, which we can\u2019t change, or worrying about the future, coming up with worst-case scenarios that are mere figments of our imagination.<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m reminded of my mortality, everything that\u2019s happened in the past no longer matters, and everything in the future doesn\u2019t matter either because it becomes more evident that all I really have is now.<\/p>\n
To approach the topic of death from a different perspective, here are the top five regrets of the dying and what we can do to avoid them. <\/p>\n
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