“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well” – Diane Ackerman

The other day in my group messages with my Littles (sisters this time…there is a trend here) I asked them if they’d written bucket lists. One didn’t reply (because she is generally ornery and rude in this fashion) but the other said she would write one down in a few days.    We went back and forth a bit about it and one of the texts I wrote said:

” I’ve been looking at life..in general and my own and I’m like.. we spend our lives talking about sh*t we wanna do and never doing it. I just don’t want that to be my story anymore. I got bins and bins of STUFF and still got 4 continents I never stepped foot on. Nah”

Grammar is not a big deal in our group messages. It’s not a deal at all as you can probably tell.

Nevertheless that message is truly how I have been feeling for a few months now. I told a few friends I think I’m going through my pre-mid life crisis (I probably made that up) and we had a little laugh together over it. Truthfully however, I do feel that way…as though life could very well pass me by if I don’t get to doing some of the things my heart tells me to do.  In some ways it’s about making sure the things I am doing are things I am passionate about, things I feel are making me a better person in the end, things that will leave me satisfied with the life I led.

So here we arrive at a bucket list. Google definition states :a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. 

Now I know someone may be feeling a little iffy about the “lifetime” part of that definition but at the end of the day every one of our goals, everything in your planner,  calendar and set to alarm in your phone is something you want to accomplish during your lifetime. I don’t want you to walk away feeling as though bucket listing is what people do only when they’ve been given a year  to live (especially because if that were my diagnosis I would be laying in the middle of the street in Times Square, not thinking about a list of any kind). Everyone can make a bucket list, at any moment in life, with no focus on death.  And I believe they should.

Why Sha?

I’m glad you asked. Simply because if we don’t do those things our hearts tell us to do we aren’t really living a life at all. At least that’s the way I see it. I told you this before, I don’t want to wake up one morning at 60 thinking about how many things I wish I had done when I was younger. I would be remiss if i totally ignored the “morbid” fact that…here it comes…tomorrow isn’t promised man! And if you don’t plan to do the things you wish to do.. you might miss your chance. Period.

What should go on the list? Anything you know in your heart you want to do. Anything you’ve seen someone else do and said to yourself ” hey that looks pretty dope I wanna do that”. Anything you saw when you Googled “bucket lists”, or put on your Pinterest board. Anything your mom did and said was fun. Anything you saw in one of your very vivid, woke  you up in a cold sweat type dreams (just me?). ANYTHING. Does your bucket list have to be realistic? Only as realistic as you make it. Does it have to include trips? Of course not.Can it just be a list of things I want to do to make myself a better person? Of course. You may not desire to travel the world (though I would seriously suggest you rethink that), write down what  YOUR heart tells  you to write down.  Be really though, this is not a list making activity. Don’t just write these things down and never plan to do them. The writing is STEP 1.

Bucket List Ideas :

• Watch the top ten IMDB movies (there are over 200.. you might want to, but Sade does not).
• Buy something for someone in the drive thru behind you.
• Take a day trip to the spa and get the works ( I plan to get it done asap, simply can’t believe I have never!)
• Travel to all of the museums in your current state (most have a free/discounted day)
•  All 50 states (I currently have…like half left sigh)
• See all 7 wonders of the modern world ( who wants to join me?)

See? It is fairly simple. Write down the things you want to do, include a time line, work out the fees (if any), and DO them. You literally have nothing to lose if you do it…and so much to lose if you don’t.

So, who has a bucket list? Or is writing one now? Write a few of your own bucket list items in the comments…I look forward to stealing reading them.

-xoxo

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will”-Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft