Nurse at palliative care reveals the top 5 regrets of people right before they died
Most time, we take things for granted and fail to appreciate what we have until it’s too late.
Having regrets about things we did wrong and for things we didn’t have the courage to undertake is simply part of humans’ nature. Sometimes, life gives us second chances to try and make things right, other times, we are forced to live with our regrets and feel sorry for the lost opportunities and possibilities.
Have you ever wondered what is that people like you and I regret the most?
Bronnie Ware, a nurse who has spent most of her life in palliative care and saw many of her patients leave this world just in front of her eyes shares the top five regrets of people who are aware their time has come to say that final goodbye.
In the book “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing” she wrote: “My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. For many years I worked in palliative care…”
She then goes on to list the regrets.
1. “I Wish I had the Courage to Live a Life True to Myself and Not for Others”
During the last days of their life, many people put all their thoughts on the things they left undone. Reflecting on their past actions is common and with that comes the regret of not living the life they wanted for themselves because of the thought what others would say.
“Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made or not made,” Ware writes.
This should serve as a reminder that we should never give up on our goals and dreams for the sake of others.
2.“I Wish I hadn’t Worked so Hard”
The hectic schedules imposed by the job we do can often lead to failing to spend enough quality time with our family and friends. Working hard to achieve success, fame, and make money can easily lead to feeling incomplete spiritually and missing on some important events.
3.“I wish I had the Courage to express my Feelings”
Having the courage to express our feelings and be honest with others is something not many people possess. Often times, we decide to stay silent for the sake of not letting other people feel bad because of how we feel about them and their actions. However, as we don’t want them to feel uncomfortable, it is us who suffer because of the things left unspoken and the feelings left unshared.
Also, we sometimes feel ashamed to tell our family and friends how much we love them and how much they mean to us.
According to Ware, this is something a lot of people regret.
4.“I Wish I had stayed in Touch with my Friends”
As days pass by, our priorities change. However, one thing we should never allow to happen is to get distant from the people who once meant the world to us. According to Ware, she has witnessed people regret not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved.
“Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down,” she wrote.
5. “I Wish I had let myself be Happier”
What most of us need to understand is that happiness is a choice.
“Fear of change had them pretending to others and to their selves that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly,” Ware wrote of many of her dying patients. We should never let fear stand on our way to feel happy and do the things that make us content.
“In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take!”
Please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook to remind them that life is short and that we need to do our best to live it to the fullest.
Bored Daddy
Love and Peace
"Listen to me, boy: cure my twins and I'll adopt you." The billionaire laughed... and the street child only touched them; then a miracle happened..
"Listen to me, boy: cure my twins and I'll adopt you." The billionaire laughed... and the street child only touched them; then a miracle happened...
Richard Vale had everything the world admired: iron gates, private jets, a business empire built on numbers that never slept. His name opened doors. His firm ended wars in boardrooms.
But inside his mansion, silence reigned.
Since the accident, her twins—Evan and Elise—moved through life like fragile glass. Metal splints hugged their legs. Crutches scraped the marble floor. The doctors spoke in careful tones, avoiding words like “never” when they meant exactly that.
No laughing in the courtyard.
No running in the hallways.
Just medical appointments, tests, and a father drowning in guilt he couldn't buy to get out of it.
His wife, Margaret, had grown distant: not cruel, just empty. When she looked at the children, her eyes filled with a sorrow too heavy to speak aloud. When she looked at Richard, there was a question neither of them dared to ask.
Why weren't you there that day?
Then destiny arrived —not in a tailored suit, not in a luxury car.
But barefoot. Thin. Seven years old.
His name was Kai.
A child who slept under park benches and spoke to the sky as if the sky were answering him.
The gala night glittered like a lie. The chandeliers burned brightly. The champagne flowed. The donors smiled with rehearsed pity as the twins were wheeled into the ballroom: symbols of tragedy wrapped in wealth.
Richard smiled all night. He nodded. He thanked everyone.
Until something inside him broke.
He saw Kai near the back —silent, invisible— looking at the twins with an expression that was not one of pity.
And Richard, drunk with pain and arrogance, said the words that would either destroy him… or redeem him.
"Look, kid," she laughed loudly, her voice echoing through the room. "Heal my children and I'll adopt you. How about that? Now that would be a miracle, wouldn't it?"
Some guests giggled. Others froze.
Kai didn't laugh.
He advanced calmly, as if the marble floor belonged to him.
"Can I try?" he asked gently.
The room fell silent.
Richard made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
—Go ahead. Do me a favor.
Kai knelt before the twins. He didn't ask their names. He didn't touch the splints. He didn't say a word anyone would recognize.
She simply closed her eyes… and gently placed her hands on their knees.
The air changed.
Not dramatically. Just… strange. Like the moment before a storm.
So-
Evan's crutch slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a thud.
"I-I... I feel hot," Evan whispered, his eyes wide. "Dad... it doesn't hurt."
Elise stood up.
One step.
Then another.
A collective gasp tore through the room.
Margaret screamed.
Richard couldn't breathe.
The twins stood there—trembling, crying, standing—while the guests recoiled as if witnessing something forbidden.
And Kai?
Kai staggered.
He collapsed.
The doctors rushed toward him, shouting orders. Security panicked. Richard fell to his knees beside the child.
"What did you do?" she demanded, her voice breaking.
Kai smiled weakly.
—I shared.
That night, the tests showed the impossible: nerve activity restored, damage reversed beyond any medical explanation. The twins slept peacefully for the first time in years.
Kai lay unconscious in a private room at the hospital.
And Vivien Vale —Richard's sister— made her move.
He called lawyers. Doctors. Board members.
"It's a fraud," he insisted. "Or it's dangerous. We can't let it stay."
When Kai finally woke up, Vivien was alone by his bed.
"You don't belong here," he said coldly. "Tell me your price. I'll make you disappear."
Kai looked at her calmly.
—I already have a home.
—You live on the street.
—I used to live where I was needed —he replied—. Now I'm here.
Vivien smiled barely, her smile thin and sharp.
—Do you think my brother will choose you over the family name?
That night, Richard gathered everyone together.
To the council. To the press. To the doctors.
And to Kai.
Richard stood in front of them, his hands trembling—not from fear, but from clarity.
"I made a promise," he said. "In public. Cruelly. And a child kept it."
Vivien stepped forward.
—Richard, think about—
"No," he said firmly. "That's what I'm doing."
He turned to Kai and knelt down.
"I don't know what you are," Richard said, his voice rough. "But you saved my children. And I failed mine."
He extended his hand.
—If you accept us… we would like to be your family.
Kai looked at the twins —who were now running, still unsure, but laughing.
Then he nodded.
Years later, people were still arguing about Kai.
Angel.
Medical anomaly.
Inexplicable coincidence.
But Richard Vale didn't care anymore.
Because every night, as I passed by the twins' room, I heard laughter echoing in hallways that once felt like a tomb.
And sometimes… just sometimes… Kai still spoke to the sky.
Only now, the sky seemed to answer him.
