friends.

Yesterday, Shahrul and I sat at Ford Road, talking about random things. Marriage, savings, work, friends and whatever in between. Then he passed me one article that caught his eye. About regrets in life.

Here's an excerpt from it;

When I was a kid in school, I looked at the much older folk around me and thought: "Gosh, it'll be years and years before I get to their age!"
But, today, after crossing the half-century mark, I look back and say: "Time has really flown, and it seems like it was only yesterday when I was in school."
At first, I was not sure if such feelings were unusual, but after checking with a few of my close friends, I found that I was not alone. I guess we all have different perspectives of time at different points in our lives.
Recently, from out of the blue, Peter, an old army friend of mine, called to invite me out for lunch. Like any typical Singaporean, I asked him about the occasion. He simply said: "To catch up,lah."
It struck me there and then that, as we get caught up in the humdrum of everyday living, we tend to lose sight of the important things in our lives, such as our friends.
In the light of this, it is quite scary when I read news about people younger than me dying before their time. Every time I flip to the sports pages, I would inevitably hit the obituaries before getting to the latest news on Liverpool's slide down the Barclay Premier League table.
I don't know if it is deliberate, but putting news about fit athletes next to news about the dead certainly helps to serve as a stark reminder of our mortality.
Australian singer/songwriter Bronnie Ware, who also worked in palliative care, wrote about five themes that surface whenever she asked her patients about their regrets in life. These are what they said:

- I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I didn't work so hard. (Many of Bronnie's patients said they missed their children youth and the companionship of their partners because they had spent so much of their time on work)
- I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish I had let myself be happier.

Social pressure and the fear of change can cause many of us to hide our true selves in order to fit in. Many of us need to learn how to really let go - to laugh loudly, act silly, express ourselves openly and free ourselves from our inhibitions.

I end with a quote from Bronnie. She said: "Life is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness."

I cannot agree with her more!

Isn't it lovely? I have many regrets in my life. People that I have hurt, the wrong paths which I took, the things you have done said "I shouldn't have done that and what the fuck am I thinking!" This is life, learn from your mistakes and think maturely.

Its okay to be busy, as long as you don't forget about your friends that have been with you all throughout your teenage years till you're a working adult. Embrace it and don't ever look back to the past.

Have an awesome weekends! :)