Revisiting the top regrets of the dying as determined by Bronnie Ware brings us to this one: “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” She states that this one came from every male she nursed. Every one! These days with many more women involved in their own careers I would think that would be true of many women as well. Her website: www.bronnieware.com.
The way I have heard it in the past from another source was, “When on their death bed, no-one ever said, I wish I had spent more time at the office.” I can’t imagine that I would ever say that. I know I spent much more time at the office than I ever wanted but I did it anyway. One of the reasons was the advent of the incredible computers that were supposed to be such time savers. Instead the computer age slowed many processes down. Their implementation, solving on-going problems, dealing with incompatible systems and on and on always took significant more time than the “old fashioned way”. But that’s another story for a future post.
The fact is, many jobs, many professions, do require periods of time when long hours are a necessity. That’s how to get the promotions and increased salaries that we think are needed and wanted. Apparently, however, at the end of our lives’ we don’t think it was worth it. If we could do it all over again, we would spend more time nurturing our relationships with spouses, partners, children, friends and relatives. There are also those work-life balance issues that involve recreation, hobbies etc. Yes, recreation. You know what that is: Golf, fishing, tennis, or whatever you might choose.
This provides mind-boggling advice for each of us. We now know what dying people name as one of their major regrets. Pay attention to that information and try working a little less. Pay more attention to the important aspects of life. Leave a new kind of legacy for those you care about. Oh, and take better care of yourself at the same time.
Stan the Man
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