In his book, Man's Search for Meaning,Viktor Frankl (psychologist, neurologist and holocaust survivor) talks about an exercise he did with patients who were suffering from deep regret or depression. He asked them to imagine themselves very old and on their deathbed. He then asked them to reflect back on their life.  Was it meaningful? Was there value and purpose in it? Was this a life you were proud to have led? 

This is such a powerful exercise to do for yourself. Imagining yourself at the end of your physical life puts everything into perspective.  Whether or not every meal turned out delicious and nutritious becomes a lot less important than did I raise my child to have good values or did I show kindness and compassion to others?  Was I a good friend, wife, father, son, daughter? Was I kind to myself and did I live each day to the fullest?  What a great exercise to highlight what is of real value in our lives and what we could probably let go of.

When I did this exercise I realized that I truly had lived a wonderful life. Not that I had done everything perfectly, certainly not! But I was glad about many of the choices I had made. In reflection, my mistakes seemed less traumatic while the lessons I'd learned from them seemed to be far more important.  I even noticed a richness to life that I think so often gets lost in the steady hum of day to day life. In the end I found renewed enthusiasm for life. Isn't it funny how imagining being at the end of one's life can bring about a new energy for living it?