Bucket Lists – past and future
Since the Jack Nicholson movie of the same title came out people have been talking about their “bucket lists”. I, for one, think its a great idea, having a list of the places you want to go,things to see and do before you die. But that’s not what I want to talk about. That’s a topic for another day. Today I want to ask you to look at what is already in your “bucket”.
Yesterday was Day #4 of Being Sick. I don’t do Day 1 well and by Day 4 someone just needs to knock me out. I didn’t need to worry about someone providing the hammer as all I wanted to do was sleep and stay warm. No hammer needed. There is a lot of time for musing when you don’t even feel well enough to read.
In the scope of exciting lives mine would be about a 3, maybe a 4 on a scale of 1-10. And that’s not bad. I don’t sky dive but I’ve flown in very small (Cessna 2 seater) and very large planes (military C-5). I haven’t hiked in a rain forest unless Rain Forest Cafe in Disney World counts. I’ve never met a Nepalese guide much less had one lead me up Mt Everest – but I have seen Mt. McKinley from a distance. I’ve never been introduced to a President at the White House. I did see Richard Nixon once on the State House steps in Columbus – and skipped class to do it. I lived with the Blackfeet Indian on a reservation in Montana for a year. Both of my babies were born in Alaska. I’ve breakfasted in Costa Rica with an iguana over the dining room table and awoke in a centuries old castle in Italy. I’ve driven for 12 hours very long hours in the Dolomite mountains between Germany and Italy in a small 4 cylinder car with two teenagers. A trucker’s strike had blockaded the autobahn. Not on my list of things to repeat. It was during this trip to Germany that the Berlin Wall was coming down, quite a period in history for Western and East Germans. I won’t bore you with more because this is MY bucket and has no meaning for you.
HOWEVER, your stress reducing, feel good exercise for today is to think of one thing that you can say “aha” – that was fun or something I never dreamed I would get to do or see or experience. It doesn’t have to be big. It could be having your first child. It could be buying your first car or landing that first job. It might have been driving non-stop to Florida during spring break with friends. Its those things that have made your life yours and no one else’s. Take a few minutes now and look at how far you have come and the stops along the way that have made this trip uniquely yours.
Sometimes what’s already in the bucket can provide as much happiness and satisfaction as those things we want to put on the list. Maybe more when its snowing and the $$$ are low. Let me know what’s in your bucket.