Many of us are so busy rushing to complete the items on our bucket lists that we miss the moments that make each item on that list worth pursuing.
We may even forget why that item was on our list.
Been there; done that. Check! Next!
Let me give you an example.
You long to visit China and finally get a chance to do so. But while in China, you’re so busy thinking about the next item on your bucket list that you don’t enjoy China as much as you thought.
Your body is in China, but your mind and emotions are elsewhere. You may even find that you don’t like China and wish you hadn’t wasted all that time thinking and planning for your trip there.
You may wonder why China was on your bucket list and wish you had deleted it from your list before wasting all that time planning and dreaming about that trip.
Then there’s that other list.
The Bucket List’s Arch Enemy
The neverending To-Do list.
This one should be called the procrastination list because we keep fooling ourselves that once everything on our to-do list is checked off, we will finally get around to checking off things on our bucket list.
It’s as if the last item on the to-do list is: Start working on my bucket list.
But we have no idea how much time we have left before that bucket is kicked over.
Read that again …
Notice I didn’t say before we kick the bucket.
Because kicking the bucket is not our choice, and we have no idea how long before the kicker decides it’s time.
But doing the things we want to do before our bucket is kicked is our choice.
Living In The Moment: The Point Where The Two Lists Collide
So if we shouldn’t live to check things off our bucket list, and we shouldn’t wait to finish everything on our to-do list before we start working on our bucket list, what should we do?
It’s simple. Live in the moment. Enjoy the process.
The journey is the destination. You’ll find that you will be more fulfilled and have fewer and fewer things on your bucket and to-do lists if you enjoy life’s journey as it unfolds.
If your lists — both bucket and to-do — are causing you stress, then it’s time to modify them. If not doing something gives you peace, then it’s time to explore that.
Do you really want to go skydiving? Do you really want to get a tattoo? Do you really want to swim across the English Channel? Do you really want to get married?
Do you really want to _________?
We all change. Our bucket lists should too.
Maybe it’s time to start deleting things from your lists to free up time for the things you really want to do. And make sure those are things you want to do, not some fantasy you read about in a magazine.
Give yourself permission to turn Just Do It into Just Say No.
I’m all for bucket lists keeping me motivated and enthusiastic, but I want to look back on those items and feel like the memories they left behind were worth the time I traded in for them.
Trading Barbs With Barb 