A nurse working with terminally-ill Cancer Patients has created a list of what matters most in life to people facing death.
These are the things that really matter. Print this out and look at it everyday.
The things my patients said they’ll miss the most are NOT seeing the World Landmarks, buying fancy things, that new car, “living it up” party style, etc.
Not a single thing was traveling or having lots of money or stuff, it was the things we take for granted in real life: family, friends, pets, babies, watching the sun rise and set, thunderstorms, and reading a good book.
What they said changed my life. I will never look at any of those things again without appreciation.
The List
1. Watching my sons throw a baseball.
2. Listening to my grandparents tell stories.
3. My girlfriend surprising me with a kiss on the cheek.
4. Holding my wife in my arms knowing there’s no where in the world I’d rather be.
5. Gram’s Sunday dinners and the whole family getting together.
6. My dog.
7. Seeing my fiancé smile and feeling his arms wrap around me.
8. My daughter running to me when I get home.
9. The smell of flowers and rain.
10. The day I got married. I said I never would. And then I met her. And now I have to leave her.
11. Smelling the fireplace on Christmas morning with the family.
12. All my friends.
13. Watching my family sleep.
14. The rush of weekday mornings. I know it sounds crazy, but I’ll miss it. I’ll miss the coffee, the crowded bathrooms, my wife’s quick peck goodbye, the kids forgetting their lunch.. you get my point.
15. Rain. Is that weird?.
Notice none of these things cost any money. They don’t include technology. They’re not grand gestures.
It’s human to human (or animals/nature) interaction, something we need more of in world that’s becoming more fast paced and less human every day.
So revamp your bucket list. Live in the moment. Put down your phone. Notice the people around you.
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