The Mortal Mamba

It’s all going to be burnt into ashes and bones one day. Then what matters in the end ?

Recently I was reading an article about some of the top regrets of dying people.
These are the regrets mentioned in the article (and they made me think deeply) :

• I wish I had not worked that hard
• I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
• I wish I had courage to express my feelings
• I wish I had allowed myself to be happier
• I wish I had the courage to defy other’s expectations and live life for myself

You were born by a chance, the odds of which were lesser than one in a billion. Your presence on this planet is nothing less than a magical event if you think of it. Is it justified to live a regretful life when the chances were so magically thin, even though you made through it till the end?

There could be many reasons for a regretful end of life , but I am sure and I can perfectly imagine a bigger component of those regrets would be something sort of “I wish…” statements. I wish I had done X.

A lot of “I wish” regrets can be fulfilled if we are mindful of the moments, take action, do not postpone for tomorrow and collect beautiful moments in our life.

We often sacrifice making good memories, in the desire of achieving more success, fulfilling our ambition, ego, or due to our ignorance or due to our inability to perceive mortality of every human beings.

How can better memories be made and captured ?

Be mindful that this time will pass
There is a last time to everything and for somethings that are happening for last time you will not recognise them in the present moment.

Plan
This strategy might sound obvious or naive but still very poorly executed by us. It is best to proactively plan ahead some events in the year, some dates, some travel plans, meet up with some close friends, family and other people you want to meet.

Capture the moments
Our memories fade over time and hence it is best to capture them as much as possible, take pictures, make notes, give gifts, save gifts you have received (no matter how small they are). Something that has a physical existence adds more weight to the survival of memories.

Interact with more people
Good memories are not made alone. Humans are a social animal and we always crave a social touch and those social touches of past will make us smile in our deathbed. Do not allow good friendships fade away – regardless of whether you are living in a different location, a different job or whatever be the reason. Talk more to your loved ones, elders, grandparents – they have generally lesser time than you and you never know when is that the last time.

Be rationally frugal spending on memories
Money can always be earned. Time is unidirectional, once it has passed it can’t be reversed. A moment passed can’t be regained. Use a fraction of your wealth to gather beautiful moments. Travel to a nice place, share gifts, donate, help someone in need.

P.S : Personally I have sacrificed a lot on the memories trading off for a little more hard work. I am regretting that in my youth and I don’t want to regret the same on my deathbed. Now, I value building good memories as much as doing hard-work, I feel much happier. Some lessons are hard-learned.

This time shall pass, make the best out of it while you can.