Older People’s Biggest Regrets

Here Are The Top 37 Things Dying People Say They Regret. Learn From It Before It’s Too Late.

5 lessons to live life without major regrets from older Americans

No Regrets in life

No regrets, you swear to yourself as you move through life. But the daily grind, the end of another year, and the beginning of a new one may make you wonder: Am I making the most of my time on Earth?

Your elders can provide some perspective.

“If you get to the end of your life with no regrets at all, you probably haven’t lived that interesting a life,” Karl Pillemer, a gerontologist at Cornell University, said about his conversations with older Americans. “But they can’t believe how people waste their time. Petty fights, resentments, and worry.”

Here are their biggest regrets and the reasons behind them:

Caring too much about what others think

We spend an inordinate amount of time during our lives trying to please or impress others. This is one of the biggest banes to human existence as we are created uniquely for a reason.

“It’s only when you realize how little other people are really thinking of you (in a negative sense) that you realize how much time you spent caring and wasting energy worrying about this,” writes Lifehack contributor Clare Hudson.

Not traveling enough

Traveling exposes you to new experiences and cultures and therefore injects that wow! factor into our lives. A recent survey of 2 000 American baby boomers showed that one in five regretted not traveling enough. Many say they didn’t travel enough when they were younger because they were busy doing other things, such as working or caring for children. Some were just too risk-averse.

“It can be done at any age, with kids or not but many talk themselves out of it for all kinds of reasons such as lack of money, mortgage, children, etc.,” says Hudson.

Working less and spending more time with loved ones

This is a very common regret of older people and we don’t heed the advice of the warners until it is too late. It’s a mistake that mankind keeps on making in our modern rush for prestige and success. “It’s easy to let that time slip away, but once it’s gone you can never get it back,” says Lolly Daskal, president, and CEO at Lead from Within.

A related element is that of working less and spending more time at home. “Working constantly for something you don’t passionately care about adds nothing but stress to your life. And even if the passion is there, keep your workload in balance with the rest of your life,” says Daskal.

Following your passion

Some people will stay in the same job all of their lives for the sake of a comfort zone and salary. They stubbornly refuse to make a bold move for fear of wrecking their lives. This fear is often irrational and prevents you from being authentic. Hudson sums it up perfectly: “It’s so easy to be seduced by a stable salary, a solid routine, and a comfortable life, but at what expense?”

Old people regrets

Worrying too much

The Bible clearly states that one cannot add one day to one’s life by worrying. So why does it? Life will have its ups and downs but looking back now you must acknowledge that worrying didn’t help one bit. On the contrary, worrying could foster a more risk-averse attitude and prevent you from living an exhilarating life.

So, before the time gets toward the end, we take the advice from the elderly into consideration to make a move to finish our life strongly.