Regrets of the Dying

Totally agree with all the premises here: more time with loved ones, be happy, etc. But to nitpick...

I've always wonder if this is _valid_. I think it's fairly established that people who are dying have these feelings, but is that to be the guiding principal for our lives? If I feel something else is more important for 30 years of my lifetime, am I wrong because in the last 10 years I regret it?

I'm not sure if the objective function of my life is to minimize regret, it seems much more complicated than that. Furthermore, I'm not convinced that incremental time spent with loved ones will do much to assuage the pain of not having felt like it was "enough".

I never know how much to attribute to these kinds of stories. It's easy to say you'd have risked more when you know you are about to die. For example, if you knew you were going to die in 2 months would you care about HIV? Would you care about pissing someone off? Would you care about planning for your future (ie, working and saving for retirement?), Would put any money in a savings account? Or save for that house? Would you stay in a stable job?

Once you are a just a few months from dying it's easier to regret things without fear because you know you're going to die soon. But when you don't know you're going to die soon then all of a sudden you'd likely make different choices. Choices that have few negative repercussions.

Posts like this always depress me. I spend all my time in class or working, and for no use - my last 8 months of work were removed last week due to a bureaucratic decision - not the first time, so I can't argue that my life has any purpose. I don't really have any friends, have had few opportunities to collect memories or feelings, etc. I'm about to graduate, move 1000 miles away and move on, so I sort of have this assumption that everything will change, but I know myself well enough to know that in all likelihood I will end up playing video games by myself every night.