We often hear about the importance of life lessons. It would be great if there would be an all-seeing, all-knowing Book of Life, giving us all the answers on how to live your life.
Unfortunately, there is not, but we can learn from others and our own mistakes.
This article is your inspiration to make the most of your life and to grow to become the best version of yourself.
The Secret to Life and Happiness.
What really matters in life?
We live in a digital age, where everything can be googled. We have a lot of information available to us. But we still haven`t found the secret to life and ultimately happiness.
Small details of daily life go unnoticed since we usually live automatically and superficially, without delving into the essential things. We are more connected together through our digital devices, but it seems like we are more apart from each other than in any other era.
So how do you get the best out of your life? What are the most important Life Lessons? How can you live your best life without regrets? A fascinating question. Recently, we stumbled upon a great and very inspiring book.
This book from Bronnie Ware made quite a lasting impression. For 8 years, she worked in the care of terminally ill patients for the last weeks of their lives.
When you are in this phase of your life, everything becomes clearer and more into perspective. When looking back at their lives, she asked them if they would handle things differently and if they had any regrets.
Surprisingly some common themes came back as answers from these men and women. Their life experiences are a great source of knowledge on the secret of life and happiness. We have put these Life Lessons for you down below.
Here is the link to her fascinating book in Kindle Format: The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware.
The best 5 life lessons for a Happy Life without regrets:
1) Find the courage to follow your dreams.
People have dreams. We have ideas and plans on how to achieve them. But a lot of time, we don’t pursue and follow through with them because we believe that we need to live a life more fitting to what our surroundings say.
We care too much about what other people will say instead of following our hearts and dreams. Often we find excuses why we don`t have the time to pursue our dreams.
When you become ill, and in the last phase of your life, you consider your health as something very precious. When we are young, we don t see that health gives us a lot of freedom to do the things we want. So we should spend the time we have very wisely.
Therefore, you must make your dreams or some of them true to don`t have regrets later in life. Because when you lose your health, it is too late to fulfill them. This is a real important Life Lesson.
2) Find a good Work-Life Balance.
We tend to think that working hard, getting promoted and more responsibilities will lead us to more money and therefore more happiness. But do you need to work that hard for getting everything you want?
Are these materialistic things going to make you happy? Or could it be that you could also live with less money but have more time to spend with family and friends?
Well, this is exactly what a lot of these patients were saying. They regretted having spent so much time at work, sacrificing precious time that could be spent with family and friends.
Here is a great video of Bronnie Ware on Ted Talks, where she tells you in her own words what she observed and what learnings you can take to heart.
Bronnie Ware advocates for a simpler lifestyle by making more conscious choices. Do you really need this top job, or could you do it with less money but have more time to spend on things you really want to do?
A simpler lifestyle will give you more space to become happier and more open to opportunities.
3) Be brave and express your feelings.
We often don`t say what we think or feel to keep peace with others. We often keep our silence to not step on any toes or fear confronting other people.
Not speaking up means that you will settle with what you have, never achieving the life you dreamed about, and not becoming the person you are capable of becoming. Another effect is that resentment and bitterness give you illnesses as a result. Some of her patients experienced that.
It would be best if you were not afraid of their reactions because you can`t control their behavior. Honest communication can work in both ways. You come more together, or you don’t. In any case, it will release the unhealthy relationship from your life, so a real win-win.
4) Spend time with family and friends.
With a busy lifestyle, it is easy not to maintain relationships with family and friends as much as we want to. Many people are caught up in their own lives that they had let good friendships slip by over the years.
See also the chart below from Ourworldindata.com. We spend far less time with friends over a lifetime. But keeping good relationships is the key to happiness throughout your life.
Bronnie Ware saw at first hand that every one of her patients was missing their friends in the end. In her book, she also states that in the final weeks of her patients’ lives, the only important thing and that remains is love and relationships.
This Life Lesson is the most important one to know about. She tells her story from her own experience, but there is also a study about Happiness.
A long-life study from Harvard clarifies that people are happier when having good relationships above anything else. Find here the article about it – This Happiness Study shows the secret to being happy.
5) Allow yourself to be happy.
Happiness is a gift, and often we think we don’t deserve it, maybe because of past trauma, fear, or limiting beliefs. But happiness is a choice.
Fear of change made her patients pretend to others as well as themselves that they were happy. But deep inside, they longed for things like laughing and having silliness in their life again.
Many of the patients from Bronnie Ware realized only until the end that happiness is a choice. When on your deathbed, what others think of you is not on your mind at all. So let go of that fear, smile, and laugh more. Why don`t you start already now?
Conclusion.
In the words of Bronnie Ware, who sums this article up very nicely:
Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.
Bronnie Ware
Therefore find the courage to live your life to the fullest, without hesitation and regrets. Find your path to what your heart wants. Follow your soul’s journey you were destined to follow.
So looking to the future, when you are old and wise and would look to your book of life, wouldn’t you want to make it a much more interesting one to read?
We hope you liked this article on Life Lessons. Here are some other great articles:
A Positive Mindset Transforms your Life.
Happy Quotes about Life that will give you joy!
Instant Happiness in 5 easy, enjoyable ways!
