The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware - Reviewed by Aditya Iyer

Reviewed on Apr 12, 2021

Must read 🏆

A delightful Memoir With An Impact Greater Than A Self-Help Book

I discovered The Top Five Regrets of The Dying while researching a blog idea. I read it to find some answers but there were other reasons to read it too.

In this delightful memoir, Bronnie Ware narrated the top five common regret stories of the dearly departed. They are:

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

- I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

- I wish I’d had stayed in touch with my friends.

- I wish I’d had let myself be happier.

These stories included Bronnie’s experiences as she reflected on her life while conversing with them. These experiences were inspiring with deep and practical lessons. For instance, her experience with depression clearly articulated the need for meditation.

Though I had learned some lessons, learning it again via real-life experiences added a whole lot of perspective to it.

The depth at which she shared her experiences was stunning. If I wrote a book, I would hesitate to write this deep about myself.

The narrative was commendable. It was beautiful, strong and impactful with the potential to move you inside out. It’s written with absolute clarity and put me through a range of emotions. To illustrate, it pained to read when they opened up to Bronnie, but I was glad and smiled to see that at least some of the elders found their peace before death. Moreover, notice how every regret starts with I wish I’d had.

Gary Vee in his video, One Life, One Time, No Regrets said Regret Is Poison. These stories made me feel exactly that.

The Top Five Regrets of The Dying has done an amazing job in bringing something invaluable forward. While my heart goes out for the departed, I’m grateful that I could learn something invaluable.

That said, there are a lot of self-help books that keep their points using data and illustrations. This one book although not categorized as self-help, its impact is much greater than a self-help book.