“The ego is only an illusion, but a very influential one. Letting the ego-illusion become your identity can prevent you from knowing your true self. Ego, the false idea of believing that you are what you have or what you do, is a backwards way of assessing and living life.” – Wayne Dyer
Today, for whatever reason, I kept reflecting on an article I wrote a little more than a month ago titled: What if my whole life has been wrong?
Perhaps it was the number of people who reached out with kind words from the simple thank you post yesterday. Perhaps it’s the number of challenges that have presented themselves recently. One can’t be sure where thoughts come from… or why. But we can surely recognize them when they do. Heed to the signs…especially if they arrive in threes…. and explore why they have made themselves known.
What if my whole life has been wrong? starts off describing Leo Tolstoys The Death of Ivan Illyich, where the main character, Ivan, from his deathbed, looks up at his wife and says, “What if my whole life has been wrong?”
If that doesn’t scare you, it should.
The byproduct of that fear however, hopefully, will be a renewed sense of vigor for life. The byproduct, hopefully, will be a Part II of your life that is better than Part I was. Better if only because the direction you are heading leads towards what makes you truly joyful as opposed to what society deems to be outward measures of success… at their most superficial.
Most people could go in the direction of their dreams, follow the “music inside of them”, but the reality is, they never will. You only regret the things you don’t do, right?
The decision is yours.
Recently I came across the writing of Bronnie Ware who spent some time as a palliative nurse. She communed with people in their final moments – from 3 to 12 weeks on average. When she asked the dying what they regretted from their time here on earth, 5 common themes surfaced.
Take some time and sit with each one of these. Better yet, grab 5 sticky notes and write each one of them down, placing one on the dash of your car each week for 5 weeks. After those 5 weeks send me an email and tell me what thoughts came to the surface whilst pondering each of them.
Deal?….Great! I knew we could count on each other.
I’ll leave you with the top 5 regrets of the dying, as listed by author Bronnie Ware.
See you on the journey. ..
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I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
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I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
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I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
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I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
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I wish that I had let myself be happier.