Living a regret free life
Over the last few days, we have been talking about the top regrets of the dying. Thinking and reflecting upon the shortness of our sojourn here on earth is an excellent way to live a better life so that we don't have the regrets at the end of our days.
The good news is that while we are still here, we have thousands of opportunities to change the stories of our lives and leave a legacy that we are content with.
Living a regret free life begins with recognizing what we would like our life to stand for. An excellent way to do this is through the "Eulogy Exercise".
A eulogy, as you know, is a speech given at a memorial service in memory of the deceased. Loved ones gather to say good words about the dearly departed and what impact they had on their lives.
The Eulogy exercise is a little different. It entails writing out two eulogies for yourself.
The first eulogy is to be written as if it is going to be read today. Write it in the present tense, as if the people gathered at your funeral are reading it as they goodbye to you.
We need to be brutally honest with ourselves. What will our loved ones say about us? What will they remember? What memories are we leaving behind for those that matter?
The second eulogy is the one that we would LIKE to be read when we are gone. This too should be written in the present tense. But instead of reading what are life stands for until today, in this eulogy we can dream a little. We can write what we wish our life and our memory to stand for. Write this one based on how you want to be remembered. This eulogy is based on our deepest values.
Once you have written both out, check to see how different they are.
If we are done this exercise faithfully, there will be at least some difference (for many of us the difference will be major) between the 'today-eulogy' and the 'wished-for eulogy'.
The immense value of this exercise is that it can actually help us plan and live our life in such a way that the eulogy that is actually read when we are gone will be exactly what we wished for and how we intended to live our lives.
Now THAT would be a regret free life, a life well-lived, don't you think?
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