I don’t have a bucket list. There I’ve said it. But I am considering making a list of the things I would like to do before I die. The movie “Bucket List” branded it a paradox, listen to my peers or be indifferent to a trivial idea.
Do I disrespect the fleetness of my time on earth by not identifying “things I want to do before I die”, and then tick them off one at a time? Will a page of ticked off boxes prevent regret when my time comes? Maybe it will or maybe not?
I’ve heard people that said, “Bucket lists, if accomplished, set memories in place that structure life as it was remembered. It can also be an attempt to connect people to something larger than themselves.” Funny, with life expectancy rising and experts warning that future generations could be working until they’re 100, 14 percent of those surveyed put retirement on their bucket list.
Another popular item was to ride down the historic Route 66 which connects Chicago to California. Immortalized in film, novels and songs, Route 66 is, arguably, the best known of all America’s highways.
Hypothetically, there some things I would include: Definitely the Route 66 run, a helicopter ride but those darn rotor blades mess up one’s hair, visit Napa Valley to whet my pallet on those fine wines, peer directly into an empty eagle’s nest and the Black Forest but why, I have no idea, except that it sounds magical. I don’t have either the guts or legs for jogging even though I can picture myself in the Boston Marathon. Another one that is so tempting is as a stunt-man for Brad Pitt, just to be near him with all those starlets vying for his attention and the rejected ones turning elsewhere!
Winston Churchill summed up Bucket Lists well before their time saying, “Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”
Travel experiences are perfect “bucket list” fodder. More and more friends appear to be turning over some imaginary hourglass every chance they get, terrified as they see sand piling up on the bottom as experiences on their bucket lists are rapidly depleting. Or maybe it is the peak-end rule, which states that people judge their experiences based on how they were at their ‘peak’ and at their ‘end’. Even though I haven’t made my decision, I’ve never understood how people enthusiastically draft their own lists, much less embrace those “100 Songs You Must Download” or “100 Trips You Must Take” before you die, lists. The pressure! No, thank you. I have quite enough to do without some nameless, faceless entity handing me another 100, 200, or 300 tasks.
There a few things that I have experienced that would have made the list, like visiting Manhattan, square dancing lessons, buying a black car and the Honeymoon suite my partner took me to for my birthday once. The spa was so great I almost forgot about the bed afterwards. After giving the idea of a bucket list much courteousness, the answer for me was No. And that can be a relief for anyone who feels uncertain that they can, or will be able to afford to do the things that comprise many a bucket list. I reflected momentarily on why I don’t want one and came to the following conclusions. I have something else. Goals. The goals are not things I want to do. They are the impact I want to have while I’m here on earth. I live in the moment. These days it’s called “being present”. Others refer to it as mindfulness. Turns out this comes naturally to me. I practice gratitude, though not in the way it’s often encouraged by journaling, daily affirmations and the like. It’s in my nature to be grateful for the small things (not having a plugged nose after a cold), and the big important stuff (like freedom)
The cool thing is that what brings me joy and makes me grateful doesn’t cost anything in the conventional sense. So, the bucket is full at the end of every day. I have all that I need, all the time.
