Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) 
 
 Amazon.com: 4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 
 
 18 of 18 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Memoir, 10 Dec 2011 By Belinda "Belinda" - Published on Amazon.com This review is from: THE TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing (Kindle Edition) THE TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing 
 
 
 
 I love this book and think it is one of the most powerful I have ever read. It is important to approach the book with the knowledge that it is a memoir of the author's life, rather than only about dying people. There are plenty of stories about her patients there too, some of which made me cry. Actually, the book made me cry a few times. 
 
 
 
 I like that the author has used her own life though, as an example of how challenging it can be to overcome some of the things the dying people were talking about. The messages from the dying people are very powerful, because we also get to see how important they are for life right now, through examples from the author's life. 
 
 
 
 This is a book of wisdom with so many wonderful, heart stories. It covers many aspects of life, well beyond the regrets themselves. It has left me feeling very positive about myself and much stronger than I was before. In the very least, it is also an easy and highly enjoyable read. 
 
 
 
 Towards the end, I felt like applauding Bronnie for the endurance of fortitude. I am so glad she shared her life with us this way. This book is powerful and a great example of inner-strength and determination, one that will surely touch your heart. THE TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING: A Life Transformed by the Dearly DepartingI love this book and think it is one of the most powerful I have ever read. It is important to approach the book with the knowledge that it is a memoir of the author's life, rather than only about dying people. There are plenty of stories about her patients there too, some of which made me cry. Actually, the book made me cry a few times.I like that the author has used her own life though, as an example of how challenging it can be to overcome some of the things the dying people were talking about. The messages from the dying people are very powerful, because we also get to see how important they are for life right now, through examples from the author's life.This is a book of wisdom with so many wonderful, heart stories. It covers many aspects of life, well beyond the regrets themselves. It has left me feeling very positive about myself and much stronger than I was before. In the very least, it is also an easy and highly enjoyable read.Towards the end, I felt like applauding Bronnie for the endurance of fortitude. I am so glad she shared her life with us this way. This book is powerful and a great example of inner-strength and determination, one that will surely touch your heart. 
 
 23 of 26 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, 7 Dec 2011 By pbj-time - Published on Amazon.com This review is from: THE TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing (Kindle Edition) I had high hopes for this book. The concept really appealed to me. Unfortunately though, I just didn't feel like the concept was very well executed. Don't get me wrong, there's some really great parts in it but I just feel like it fell short of my expectations. I just felt like there was WAY too much storytelling about the authors own personal life and not enough tales from the lives of those who were spending their last days on this earth. I would say it's about 75% about the author's life and 25% about the people who were about to pass on. The author's personal stories are usually tied into the lessons she learned from the dying patients she cared for, but still I wanted to hear more about the lives of the patients themselves. 
 
 
 
 The author's stories about herself are interesting. She obviously has lead a very free and interesting life, but constantly hearing about it loses it's appeal after a while. I was hoping to gain insight and wisdom from the people who were seeing life from their last days. I did get a portion of that, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. Strangely, a lot of the words of wisdom came from the author, which is fine I suppose, but that's not quite what I bought the book for. 
 
 
 
 Also, the end of the book got really self indulgent in my opinion. I was really feeling like giving the book 4 stars until I neared the end. There's a small portion in those last chapters that summarize her days and lessons learned with her patients, but the last 20% or so of the book is very long winded story telling of her own trials and tribulations through depression and her days as a songwriting instructor at a women's prison. I just didn't get what the point of all that content was. It didn't seem to tie in with the theme of the book at all. I kind of got the impression that the end was simply a need to fill pages to meet a quota by the way it rambled on and on. It really soured my opinion of the book as a whole. 
 
 
 
 At any rate, the book has high points and low points. It has 5 star rating material and 1 star rating material. I decided to split the difference and rank it as 3 stars overall. It's worth reading but I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of money on it. I'm glad I bought the $10 kindle version and not the $30 paper copy! I had high hopes for this book. The concept really appealed to me. Unfortunately though, I just didn't feel like the concept was very well executed. Don't get me wrong, there's some really great parts in it but I just feel like it fell short of my expectations. I just felt like there was WAY too much storytelling about the authors own personal life and not enough tales from the lives of those who were spending their last days on this earth. I would say it's about 75% about the author's life and 25% about the people who were about to pass on. The author's personal stories are usually tied into the lessons she learned from the dying patients she cared for, but still I wanted to hear more about the lives of the patients themselves.The author's stories about herself are interesting. She obviously has lead a very free and interesting life, but constantly hearing about it loses it's appeal after a while. I was hoping to gain insight and wisdom from the people who were seeing life from their last days. I did get a portion of that, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. Strangely, a lot of the words of wisdom came from the author, which is fine I suppose, but that's not quite what I bought the book for.Also, the end of the book got really self indulgent in my opinion. I was really feeling like giving the book 4 stars until I neared the end. There's a small portion in those last chapters that summarize her days and lessons learned with her patients, but the last 20% or so of the book is very long winded story telling of her own trials and tribulations through depression and her days as a songwriting instructor at a women's prison. I just didn't get what the point of all that content was. It didn't seem to tie in with the theme of the book at all. I kind of got the impression that the end was simply a need to fill pages to meet a quota by the way it rambled on and on. It really soured my opinion of the book as a whole.At any rate, the book has high points and low points. It has 5 star rating material and 1 star rating material. I decided to split the difference and rank it as 3 stars overall. It's worth reading but I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of money on it. I'm glad I bought the $10 kindle version and not the $30 paper copy! ||||| There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. And among the top, from men in particular, is 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard'. 
 
 Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. 
 
 Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again." 
 
 Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware: 
 
 1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 
 
 "This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it." 
 
 2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. 
 
 "This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence." 
 
 3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. 
 
 "Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result." 
 
 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 
 
 "Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying." 
 
 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. 
 
 "This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again." 
 
 What's your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change before you die?
– What are the most common regrets of people on their death beds? An Australian palliative nurse named Bronnie Ware, who spent years tending to patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives, compiled a top-five list in book form. Here's a peek, from the Guardian: Live your own life: Ware says the most common regret is that people felt they led lives they were expected to lead, rather than ones they wanted to lead. "Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams." Don't work so hard: Almost every male patient regretted spending so much time at work instead of with family. Speak up: Most people didn't express their feelings enough. "As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence." Click here for the rest.