The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing Paperback – March 20, 2012

Absolutely an amazing book. Highly recommended you won’t regret reading this book. The flow of the stories and the way the author uses her words was inspiring.

The end of a year is a common time to take stock—especially so this year as we embark on a new decade this Wednesday. Depending on your age, you have more or fewer opportunities to make changes and improvements at such a time. Australian author Bronnie Ware worked as a caregiver for the dying, and the people she cared for knew that there would be no new years or decades for them. They had to come to terms with what had happened in their lives that they wished hadn't, or what hadn't happened that they wished had. Ware shares their stories in "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying."Ware realized that many of the same regrets came up over and over from those she cared for. They are:* "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."* "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."* "I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings."* "I wish I'd stayed in touch with my friends."* "I wish I'd let myself be happier."The elderly that Ware cared for make many recommendations to the reader, including resolving family conflicts to the extent that is possible, taking care of your health so you can live life to the fullest, striking a balance where money and simplicity are concerned, looking at every day as a gift, maintaining a sense of self, and realizing that your life is your own and not someone else's. One affluent woman envied her daughter's having the courage to live the way she wanted to against the opinions of society. Another one of Ware's charges regretted being married to a controlling spouse and not traveling to other regions or countries.The stories in "Top Five Regrets" are moving and the book is well worth reading. It implores the reader, especially young readers, to realize that what you think you will regret when you are young is not what you will eventually come to regret at some point on the road from 25 and 75 and to order your life so that your regrets are fewer when it comes time to die.

This book has so many wonderful insights to share and the writing is gripping and your heartstrings are along for the ride like it or not. I absolutely loved it and was already thinking of all the people I would recommend it to when I got to the really dark chapter about her losing touch with reality and basically planning her own suicide. Honestly it negated a lot of the beautiful things that had been shared prior, and without much insight into WHY she was suddenly so depressed and done with life (lots of vague illusions to a tough past) she mostly comes off as just plain whiny and ungrateful. I nearly put the book down it was so bad. She did seem to redeem her original message in the chapters following, but the book would have been complete and fantastic without her sidebar woah is me tangent of destitution. If I recommend this book now I feel like I have to add the caveat that the reader should skip that chapter. Otherwise I loved the content and the messages passed on.

The book is amazing. Simply put - I loved it, I just loved it.I am buying two more for a couple of friends from another country.We usually share and compare our opinions on different books, but this one is not available on their country.So - I am buying two and then I will mail them to my friends.I will also most definitely recommend it to my other friends in the US.This is not a book to be saved as an "audiobook". This book is one of those I most pass along to my child (he is only 8 y/o now). And I will read a couple more times before I do that.In the recent years, I have come more in touch with spirituality and this book is full of spiritual knowledge and spiritual understanding. I totally identified myself with the author and the fact that she remembered so many little details about her clients - beautiful!Almost on every page, the author reminded me of the beauty of living a simple life.We, as humans, tend to forget that the simpler our lives, the less pain and more fulfillment and purpose.Let's not forget, that only the egoist and the arrogant believe this life belongs to them... It doesn't. To be alive is a gift. To have the honor of walking this planet is a gift. And this book an amazing reminder of that. Unfortunately, most humans realize the gift only on their last days/minutes here.Thank you Bronnie Ware

The experience is a wonderful one. And I felt deeply pulled into this book. Even intrigued by the authors own experiences and journey to self heal towards the end. But I felt it dragged on a bit longer than it needed to.

I usually listen to audiobooks and this was no exception, but I loved it so much. I bought a paper copy too!

This book was selected for a small book club I just joined and at first I found it difficult to get into and did not think I was going to really enjoy reading it. I then took the book with me on a flight and since I was stuck in my seat I decided to try to read it again and wow I am so glad I did. I found myself relating to the author in ways I was not expecting and took away lessons and thoughts from reading that will stay with me forever. I actually felt like a new person after finishing the book. I see life in a different light now, a clearer and more beautiful light. My copy of this will remain forever on my bookshelf so I can revisit it every few years. I recommend this read to everyone young old and in between.

My neighbor recommended this book as a way to reflect on life and aging.Bronnie Ware writes of her own wisdom and transitions as she emerged as a listener, musician, composer, teacher, and total human being. Bronnie's chapters offer much to contemplate about life and aging.