To live a meaningful, fulfilling life, you have to accept that it’ll eventually come to an end, says Shoshana Ungerleider in a recent article featured on CNBC.
Over the years of caring for ill hospital patients, Ungerleider — a doctor who specializes in internal medicine — has observed regrets among people who are at the end of their lives, she tells CNBC Make It.
“Being proximate to the end of your life really allows you — pushes you — to be present because that’s all you have,” says Ungerleider, 44, host of the upcoming “Before We Go” podcast and founder of the nonprofit End Well Foundation. “That is true for all of us.
Throughout our lives, this present moment is all we have.”
Here are five regrets she says people often express:
- I didn’t spend enough time with the people I love.
- I worked too much and missed out on life.
- I let fear control my decisions and didn’t take risks.
- I wish I’d been braver in the face of uncertainty or opportunity.
- I focused too much on the future and lost touch with the present.
Ungerleider’s advice for getting ahead of those regrets is simple: Remind yourself that your time is limited and unpredictable, and regularly ask yourself some big, important questions. How do I want to spend my time? What matters most to me in my life?
She particularly encourages young people, who often haven’t yet faced significant health challenges — in themselves or their loved ones — to think of that reflection as “really integral to living for a long, healthy life — with good quality of life.”
Remember that life…before, during and after adversity….is still life! Each day that we are alive is a gift that we have been given and should never be taken for granted. Be brave in the midst of uncertainty, challenges and opportunities.
Strive to each make each day one that is without regrets.