Rethink your bucket list
You can tell a lot about a person by what’s on their bucket list. Whether it’s skydiving, mountain climbing or completing the New York Times Sunday crossword, nearly everyone has a list of feats they’d like to accomplish before they die.
Bonnie Poole, 71, of Barkeyville, Pa., recently revisited her bucket list when she retired from a 37-year career in medical records management, only to realize her priorities had changed through the years, and goals she had earlier in life were no longer as important to her.
“Some of the things I wanted to do then don’t seem very meaningful now,” she says.
Losing her adult son to cancer taught Poole that tomorrow is not guaranteed. “Now that I have the time, I want to spend it traveling with my husband,” she says.
What do you want to achieve?
The term “bucket list” became popular after the release of the 2007 hit movie of the same name, which starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as cancer patients whose days were numbered. The two men take off on an adventure-filled road trip, armed with a wish list of to-dos before they kick the bucket.
Swell idea—but do we really need the prospect of death to prod us into creating a list of life goals?
“A bucket list gets us thinking about what we want to achieve in our life versus living our life in autopilot,” says life coach Celestine Chua, founder of Personal Excellence, an online life coach resource.
A bucket list, she says, is a clear reminder of those goals and dreams you want to work toward.
Break it down
Our bucket list need not be filled with lofty goals, says Michele Dubel, a wellness educator in Pittsburgh.
“Dream big and small,” she says. “Small dreams are stepping stones to achieving the bigger dreams.”
Chua suggests breaking down seemingly unachievable goals into mini goals you can work on.
Be Flexible
Don’t look at your bucket list as a hard and fast set of rules. Let it grow and change as you grow and change.
“At 13, I wanted to be a nun. At 15, a truck driver. At 18, a world traveler. Today, I am studying for my financial adviser license,” Dubel says.
“A bucket list is flexible. Not all of them will come true, but it allows us to challenge perceptions. It helps us to plan, problem solve, plant seeds, find our true pathways and take risks.”
Chua, who lives in Singapore, at one time wanted to own a convertible, something considered a luxury in her country. “But, having become very non-materialistic as I grow older I no longer have any interest to get one,” she says.
Strive to try
Bucket listers should keep in mind that unfinished goals do not signal failure.
“The only failure comes from not trying at all,” Dubel says.
