The Bucket List

I recently bumped into an Internet article entitled Twenty Things Everyone Should Do Once. It reminded me of that great 2007 Rob Reiner movie “Bucket List,” in which Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson cross items off their list, to hilarious effect. It's increasingly common to hear folks talk about their own bucket list. You know…all the things they want to do and see before they kick the bucket.

As I glanced down the litany of the twenty things I should do, I was pleased to see that I have already experienced fourteen of the twenty. Now, don’t get too excited. Most of them were not all that amazing. Simple things like adopting a pet, buying a piece of art you like or eating food you raised yourself.

I mean, who hasn’t had one of their children bring home a pet and then leave it with you? Seriously, who would buy a piece of art that they didn’t like? Nearly everyone I know has at some point put a tomato plant in the ground and enjoyed its harvest.

So what about the ones I have yet to do?  Well, most of the leftovers didn’t really tickle my fancy or even stir my imagination, except for one.

Live in a foreign country.  

I think that is something I would like to experience. Spend a while letting the sights, sounds and smells of the culture seep into my soul, instead of playing hop scotch from one tourist attraction to the next.  

As I thought about the things I should do at least once, a few more came to mind. I would like to learn how to play the piano and sign up for dance lessons. Lord knows I need them. Once in my life I would like to take a train ride across America. I’d like to take some art lessons. Maybe even photography. And I’d like to work on a lobster fishing boat in Maine, don’t know exactly why, but still would like to do it.  

There are lots of things I would like to do at least once. Yet it seems to me there will always be more books to read, more places to visit, more things to experience. I think the saddest thing might be to actually have done all the things you wanted to do. What a boring end that would be! There should always be more on the horizon, more ideas, and more experiences you dream of having.  

Have you thought about all the things you would like to do at least once? I hope so. But I also hope you never complete your bucket list.