What will be your dying regrets

The above article was published on 6/08/13 in the Connacht Sentinel.
I wrote in the following letter which wasn't published.

78 Lower Salthill,

Galway,

12/08/13

Dear Editor,

I read with interest the article by Carmel Sheridan in last week's Sentinel: "What will be your dying regrets?" It reminded me of a Youtube video that was filmed in Galway two years ago: "50 people one question, Galway." In the short film people on the streets of Galway were asked what their biggest regret in life was. That video has clocked up over a million views. Consequently it can be seen that having regrets is something that resonates with people.

In Carmel Sheridan's article, she details "The top five regrets of the dying." Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who had worked in palliative care carried out interviews with dying people to research her topic. However what's really interesting is what people were saying to her in their final days.

It's difficult to negotiate the various paths in life without having regrets. We may regret not having asked that particular person we fancied out on a date many years ago, not having gone for the job promotion and so on. However according to her Top Five Regrets number one is "I regret that I wasn't brave enough to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."

It's amazing that is at number one. It started me thinking, how many of us in our daily lives are living lives in which we are not true to ourselves. Are we all so tied up in what people are thinking or expecting of us? Are we all living "false lives?" If we are then we really are not only doing a disservice to ourselves but to everyone else as well. No wonder we all live "false" lives if everyone else is doing the same. We do this to protect our vulnerabilities and not to get hurt. However the price we pay is too high in my opinion.

By being ourselves and exposing our vulnerabilities we show the beautiful person that is inside all of us. We also help others to do the same. Be the person that you are meant to be and the only person you can be. A simple request but a gift to everybody you will ever meet,

Thomas Roddy.