The Worst Crime You Can Do To Your Own Self

Do you think when you are on your deathbed taking the last few breaths of your life, you will be satisfied with the way you have lived? A rather grave way of starting a blog but tell me, do you think you will be able to say your life was worth living at the end of it all, no matter what you had gone through?

If you want to answer yes to these questions, then try to live without regret. Remember, better an oops than a what if.

I came across this Wikipedia article that talked about the top five regrets of the dying. According to Bronnie Ware, the five most common regrets shared by people nearing death were:

"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 had stayed in touch with my friends."
"I wish that I had let myself be happier."

Change is an important component in our lives. No one stays the same forever. We evolve and grow as we progress through life but this whole process should be natural. No one should force change upon you. You should not let anyone force change upon you. You should not hide your true self to appease others. You should not change your ways just to ease your company. "How much can you change and get away with it, before you turn into someone else, before it's some kind of murder?" (Richard Siken) Yes, you're murdering your true self by trying to be someone you're not. Don't. Under whatever circumstance, do not. Live your life the way you want to live it- without the agony of false pretences and facades- feeling the joy of getting to be your own true self.

Do not prioritise anything above your own happiness. Make sure to keep away some time for yourself despite the busy schedule you may be stuck in. Do not stop yourself from sharing what you feel. Express. Tell the people you love that you love them. Appreciate everything and everyone. Speak out against things that bother you. Don't bite back your words and try to swallow them down. They might get stuck in your throat, making you heave and gasp all through your life. Keep the people who care for you close to you. At one point in your life, you will realize who the ones worth keeping are. So keep them. Keep them and love them and hang out with them whenever you can. Let yourself be free. Let yourself be happy.

Do not come to a point in your life where you look back and say, "Oh, how I wish I had done things differently back then!"

No.

Be a person filled with experiences- be it uplifting or heartbreaking. But do not be a person filled with regrets. For, in my opinion, that's the worst crime one can commit to oneself.

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