"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Mark Twain's quote is one of my absolute favorites and it is how I urge people to view their lives. My grandmother lived this quote out until her last days. Life was an adventure to her and she never let anything slow her down. Here is a brief look at her. She was 4'11" and might have weighed 100lbs at some point in her life. She woke up each morning and was on the trail walking and was done no later than 7:00 am. She drove a bright red camaro and went 0 to whatever the speed limit was just about as fast as the car could do it. She always traveled and always on an adventure. She was one of those people who made you feel like you were the only person in the room and had the brightest eyes. I went to her house every Sunday after church and she would always tell tales of her adventures and bring out her photo albums to back up the stories. She would break out her set of Encyclopedias and teach me about all different types of things. I'll never forget when she was in her 70's she decided she wanted to hike in the outback of Australia and take a hot air balloon ride over Ayers Rock, so she did. Then she wanted to go see the great Pyramids of Egypt on a camel, so she did. Then she wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone, so she did. She was an incredible woman and such a great example of the quote above by Mark Twain. She understood it and lived it. It is so important to spend time with friends and family that are in the latter part of their lives and just listen and watch.
Two men named Gilovich and Medvec conducted significant research on people in their last phase of life and in 2012 Bronnie Ware aggregated that information and wrote a book called "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying." Ware spent many years caring for those facing their own mortality. Between Gilovich, Medvec, and Ware they spent exhaustive amounts of time on the topic of life's regrets and concluded that the three regrets below were consistent among their research.
"I wish that I had let myself be happier, happiness is a choice"
"I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life other expected of me."
"Looking back on life it is the things that I have not done rather than the things that I did that are my greatest regret"
I believe this research is so important because we all wonder what we will think about our lives at the end of them.
I challenge us to listen to the advice of the ones who have lived their life to the end and don't commit the same regrets.
That is why I love Mark Twain's quote. Life is incredibly short and we all live on borrowed time. We have a short time to live a life and leave a legacy. Don't miss it!
Lead NWA well this week!
- Dr. Keith McDaniel
