5 Things Nobody Said on Their Deathbed
Sometimes, the best way to illustrate the absurdity of some of the things we do is to create a hypothetical scenario that showcases how ridiculous they are.
So I projected myself into the future where I’m laying on my death bed and asked myself what the most outrageous things I would never say be.
This is what I came up with:
I wish I spent more time in the office to do more work
Said nobody. Even though I have no empirical data, this is the one that I’m quite certain nobody reading this has ever heard of either. This is why it’s at the top of the list.
How many times have we stayed late at work for that one additional meeting, that report that’s due the next day, or even worse to look busy in front of others? There’s always some “critical” reason why we need to bleed work into our personal lives.
Can you picture yourself wishing you had spent more time at work on your deathbed?
If the answer is “no,” then stop devoting your life to it. It’s just a job. Get over it.
I wish I spent more time scrolling through social media
I might as well have replaced social media with drinking Red Bull because they are one and the same thing: sugary dopamine traps. Only difference is, instead of sugar, social media peddles mind-numbing, click-farming, bite-size nuggets of dopamine hits to your brain. The more emotionally charged and outlandish the content, the better - validity be damned.
The type of information that the algorithms promote literally renders your brain into mush as it turns you into an unhealthy 300 pound intellectually obese slave to the attention masters battling it out on the various platforms. You know this. I know this.
Start winding the time you spend on social media down. Go read a book instead. Or better yet, write one.
I wish I was more obedient
If you were a total rebel and did things completely your way, then you definitely would never say this when your time is up.
However, many of us aren’t total rebels, and what happens for us is that when the time comes to look back on our lives, lost opportunities is what we will see. There will be forks in the road that we will remember where we decided to take the safe path and follow what we’ve been indoctrinated to believe as the “right” way.
I guarantee that there will be those moments where we think “I wonder what would have happened if…” and be haunted by the fact that we shall never know. It is precisely because of this why nobody will wish they had been more obedient - and spineless - when their time comes.
So the next time you find yourself at one of life’s forks in the road, don’t be afraid to be a little bit of a rebel. Being saddled with the “what if…” amulet for the rest of your life can be cumbersome because it gets heavier and heavier as time passes.
An exception to this would be with religions if you are religious. Obedience in that context is completely different, especially when the time comes to leave this existence.
I wish I had gotten into Harvard
These are the pedigreed badges of honor that we fool ourselves into thinking that they define who we are. I chose Harvard but you can easily replace it with any of the other badges such as Forbes 30 Under 30 or any other list or accolade created by media to generate sales through branding.
If you never attained these badges, I can guarantee you that you’re not going skip a heartbeat because of that when your time comes. In our old age, and after living and experiencing life in all its nooks and crannies, we realize that many of these ideals that have been thrown at us as success-bait since we were children don’t represent what they were stacked up to be when our time comes.
The point here is not to diminish the accomplishment of attaining any of these badges, but rather, to underscore that they are a means to an end. In our maturity, we realize that the end can be achieved through a multitude of ways, many of which are not part of the regular programming for children because, well, you can’t really program life - there are simply too many dynamic variables involved.
I wish I slept less
Nobody is going to complain that they slept too much when their time comes. If anybody does, then I congratulate that person for being able to consistently pull off one of the hardest things to do: get a good night’s sleep in.
Personally, it’s a toss up between this and spending too much time doing work as the most difficult thing to manage. Now that I come to think of it, they are probably related to each other as well.
Sleep, as you know, is one of the most underrated factors towards general health and wellbeing. It also something most of us take for granted and don’t get enough of. The thing is, lack of sleep not only impacts you and your health, but others around you as well. Irritability and crankiness really does suck on the receiving end.
Do yourself and your loved ones a favor. Make it a habit to get enough high quality sleep. Place your mobile phone in another room. Control the lighting and get thick curtains. Make sure the temperature is cool enough but not too cold. Get a sound machine or wear ear plugs. Upgrade your mattress and sheets. These simple changes will make a world of difference.
So there you have it, 5 things nobody ever said on their deathbed. I hope they were ridiculous enough to trigger you into thinking about taking some action and making some changes in your life.
Remember, starting out with small nudges leads to a sustainable and more permanent change compared to attempting to go all out with a Big Bang approach.
If you’ve got other even more ridiculous things nobody would ever say, do share them with everybody in the comments 😁