What’s on your BUCKET LIST ?

“The Bucket List” is a phrase that’s been around awhile but entered the common vernacular in 2007 following a film of the same name, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two aging and terminally ill men who strike out together to cross accomplishments off their bucket lists – their term for those things they hope to achieve before kicking the bucket.  The idea of reaching certain goals and milestones before crossing life’s finish line is nothing new, really, but now we have a name for it and countless people have embraced the idea since. When was the last time you really wanted to go out and do something ? Something that would make you really happy to accomplish ?

We dream big, plan big, and view the world around us as something to be explored, experienced, and conquered.  We are driven to growth, personally and collectively, and we aspire to greatness as we define it.  But something happens as life sets in.  A great many of us become complacent, simply satisfied with where we find ourselves and without any desire to push beyond.  Contentment is one thing, and we’re certainly not knocking anyone’s contentment if it is well-earned and built on accomplishing goals and dreams. Sometimes we get wrapped up in the daily “to do” lists and forget about doing the things that enrich our own life. Instead of doing the things we want to do, we stick to the things we need to do. A way to accomplish some of these things is to make a bucket list.

To prevent boredom and personal complacency we believe developing a bucket list is extremely important. Getting caught up in the day-to-day grind easily overwhelms and puts us in a type of survival mode where one day looks pretty much like the last, and predicts the next.  There is great power in having hope for your goals to add happiness and an edge to life that otherwise gets suppressed.  Redundancy and the boredom that comes from it creates its own kind of stress that working on a bucket list reduces. Putting our goals and dreams on paper helps define us, teaching us what is really important and clarifying our nature and character.  This might seem silly; of course we know ourselves right ? We’re intelligent, fully actualized adults, in command of who and what we are.  Or are we ? Life is actually a journey, and self-discovery an ongoing process.  A lot of us fall into roles that seem right, or responsible, or just expected of us, without a lot of thought or real insight.  Taking a hard look at our bucket list might redefine what we think our roles should be, or even prompt us to change course or cast off the expectations of others.

Life is very short and time really does fly past us. I am in final year at college right now and I feel as if I just graduated high school yesterday. I have some regrets from my previous years, that I didn’t do all the things I wanted to do. So from now on I am living life to the fullest and creating that bucket list. Along with any items, big or small, I’ll be working to cross off everything on my bucket list! And now some judgemental people might ask “Eh, why the bucket list ?” Because it should be; it’s really that important to collect memories instead of regrets.

So, what’s on your Bucket List ??

WordPress Post