☕ saturday mornings #26
facing the future, measuring success & avoiding regrets
Good morning all,
I hope you’re having a lovely start to your weekend.
Below is your edition of “saturday mornings”, a weekly recap of what I’ve been testing, learning and exploring over the past few days.
Thanks for being here.
✍️Quote I’ve been thinking about:
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
― Marcus Aurelius
🎨Picture I loved:
Measuring success
💡Idea I’m exploring:
Top Five Regrets of the Dying
Bronnie Ware was an Australian hospice nurse who supported terminally ill patients in their last 12 weeks of life. She had first hand experience of the phenomenal clarity people gain nearing the end of their lives.
From her conversations with these patients, Bronnie synthesized and published the top five regrets of the terminally ill.
Although it’s easy to see this list as something morose or depressing, it’s also a unique window to gain clarity on what really matters in life. We can learn from the perspective of those facing their final days, without having the same time constraints imposed. Hopefully, to avoid having similar regrets in our lives.
Interestingly, there was a high degree of similarity across the regrets stated by patients, even though they had no interaction with each other. It almost suggests there are fundamental truths to what makes a good life, that are universal, despite differences in gender, age, race, religion and culture.
In the face of death, when all the unimportant and irrelevant things fall away, what really matters?
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life other’s expected of me.
I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. Every male patient felt they missed their children’s youth and partner’s companionship.
I wish I 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 and realized that happiness was a choice.
The intention of this list is almost stoic in nature, as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius urged people to contemplate death on a frequent basis. They felt this practice helped one to realize how silly many of our worries and anxieties are, and foster a sense of gratitude for the good that exists in life.
When asked what he does when life feels overwhelming or negative, Naval Ravikant, a highly successful entrepreneur and tech investor, responded that he reflects on “Memento Mori”. It’s an ancient Latin term for “remember that you have to die”.
That’s all for this week’s edition of “saturday mornings”.
And, as always, please give me feedback by replying to this email. Which topic above is your favourite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.
Have a lovely weekend.
Much love to you and yours,
Thomas