Bird's Nest

Censuswide, a company that creates surveys for the PR industry, asked 2000 men and women 65 and older what they regret most. They report that not having traveled more is a major cause for remorse. It’s not very surprising, considering the client paying for this particular survey was British Airways. Still, I’ll bet they weren’t very far off the mark. Psychologist Thomas Gilovich claims, “People’s lives can be enriched by redirecting expenditures from things that provide fleeting joy to those that provide more substantial and lasting contributions to well-being.” In other words, the things that matter most to us, the things that bring us real happiness, aren’t things at all. So when all is said and done, it’s natural that we should live to regret spending so much time and energy on careers and acquisitions and so little on friends, family, and yes, even traveling.