The Rocking Chair Test

We often live like we have all the time in the world. In denial of the fact that one day we will die. This is not a bad thing. It’s a helpful defense mechanism. But if we completely ignore the inevitable, we might never get round to doing the stuff that really matters to us.

So often it’s in the moments where a wake up call hits, and the fragility of life presents itself, that we are gifted the opportunity to change direction.

Regrets of the Dying

Australian nurse, Bronnie Ware recorded the dying revelations of those she worked with in palliative care during the last 12 weeks of their lives. The biggest regrets Ware recorded were:

• I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
• I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
• I wish I’d 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.

Courage, Perspective, and Permission.

These three themes come through those regrets. To give yourself permission to act with courage in accordance with what you come to understand as the most important things to you.

These can shine a great light on how we think about the lives we want to live and the people we want to be. Before we are necessarily faced with something that brings it all into stark view.

The Rocking Chair Test

The Rocking Chair Test is a great exercise to do when you’re faced with a big decision, or when thinking about the direction of your life as a whole and assessing where you might want to go with it.

Imagine yourself in a rocking chair as an old person, looking back at your life.

What’s the story you are telling?

Unshackle your imagination and let it flow. Write it down. Record it on your phone. Speak it to another person. Whatever you need to do to allow it to breathe so that you can allow yourself to dream the life that you have inside you.

This can be the start of deep and meaningful long-term transformation. It begins with honesty. When we are honest with ourselves about this sort of stuff.

It can be an enlightening exercise, which might lead to a few ‘aha!’ moments, as you release yourself from the story you’re sleepwalking. And invite the story that you have within to come out into the open.

How did you get on with the Rocking Chair Test? I’d love to here.