[kstenerud]

I've found that the dying tend to focus on the last decade or so of their life with newfound clarity now that the daily material worries are trivial by comparison, and spend a fair bit of time thinking about how empty or full their life was depending on how they lived. The regrets inevitably revolve around relationships, distantly followed by accomplishments.

Its not about being satisfied or not with your choices on your deathbed, so much as realizing on your deathbed that you've been miserable due to how you've lived, and have been too preoccupied or angry or fearful to pay any heed and make changes while you still had the chance.

The first bout one has with this is when someone you know well dies, and you find yourself thinking about what could have been said or done but cannot now. That's probably also why the realization generally doesn't happen until later in life...