Fulfilling Life’s Dreams
Posted on January 30, 2016 by bob in Features
By Celestine Chua
“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.” — William Ross
“The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” — Author Unknown
Editor’s Note: Several months ago we requested our readers’ bucket lists. Interspersed within this article are a few of the submissions we received.
A few days ago, I was surfing online when I came across someone’s bucket list. It quickly inspired me to create my own list and write an article about it at the same time.
What’s a Bucket List?
If you haven’t heard about the term “bucket list”, it is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life experiences you desire to experience before you die.
Why Create a Bucket List?
If you don’t live your days by personal goals and plans, chances are you spend most of your time caught up in a flurry of day-to-day activities. Ever feel your days are passing you by without any tangible output to speak of? What did you accomplish in the past three months? What are your upcoming goals for the next three months? Look at the things you did and the things you’re planning to do next. Do they mean anything to you if you are to die today? Having a bucket list reminds you of activities that are really important so you can act on them.
Even if you frequently live by goals or to-do lists, they are probably framed within a certain social context
e.g. performance, career, health. A bucket list opens up the context. It’s a forum to declare anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to do, whether it’s big, small or random.
It’s just like planning ahead for all the highlights you want for YOUR whole life.
Even though goal setting is already my staple activity, I still found many new things to do while I was writing my own list. It was an incredibly insightful exercise. What’s more, coming up with my list gave me a whole new layer of enthusiasm by knowing what’s in store ahead!
The objective of creating this list isn’t to instill some kind of a race against time or to create aversion toward death.The whole point of creating your list is to maximize every moment of our existence and live our life to the fullest. It’s a reminder of all the things we want to achieve in our time here, so that instead of pandering our time in pointless activities, we are directing it fully toward what matters to us.
Create Your Bucket List
If you don’t have a bucket list, I highly recommend you to create one. How much will it cost? Zero. How long will it take? Probably 30 minutes to an hour, or more if you get really caught up in the writing.What do you stand to gain? Significant clarity and focus on what you want from your life. It’s an invaluable exchange.
If you already have your list, take this opportunity to review it. See if there are new items you want to add-on. If so, add them in. Check if all the items listed are still relevant. If not, remove them.
Now, take out your pen and paper or open up a text document. Start writing down what comes to mind as you read these questions:
ν What if you were to die tomorrow? What would you wish you could do before you die?
ν What would you do if you had unlimited time, money and resources?
ν What have you always wanted to do but have not done yet?
ν Any countries, places or locations you want to visit?
ν What are your biggest goals and dreams?
ν What do you want to see in person?
ν What achievements do you want to have?
ν What experiences do you want to have/feel?
ν Are there any special moments you want to witness?
ν What activities or skills do you want to learn or try out?
ν What are the most important things you can ever do?
ν What would you like to say/do together with other people? People you love? Family? Friends?
ν What do you want to achieve in these areas: Social, Love, Family, Career, Finance, Health (your weight, fitness level), Spiritual?
ν What do you need to do to lead a life of the greatest meaning?
Come up with as many items as you can. The items should be things you have not done yet.
Don’t stop until you finish listing at least 101 things! If you find yourself stuck, chances are you are mentally limiting/constraining yourself. Release those shackles – your bucket list is meant to be a list of everything you want to achieve, do, see, feel and
experience in your life. λPrime
Celestine Chua is the founder of Personal Excellence, an online site dedicated to helping individuals achieve their personal best. For Chua’s list of 101 Things to Do Before You Die visit http://personalexcellence.co/blog/bucket-list/.
Reader submitted lists
Willie G. Moseley — Writer
Finances may well figure into any post-retirement plans for yours truly, if I can afford to retire.
That being said, about all I aspire to do with a disproportionate amount of free time is travel in a casual manner. The sights and sites I would like to experience are, from what I can determine, confined to the lower 48 United States; i.e., I don’t have any burning desire for foreign travel.
“Casual” travel would mean going at your own pace, and for me, it would mean taking a former primary thoroughfare that has now been replaced by an interstate; i.e., rolling along Highway 31 instead of I-65 (I think the panel cartoon “Pluggers” nailed it a few months ago when it noted that “…a plugger eventually goes from ‘life in the fast lane’ to ‘the road less traveled’.” The Missus and I have already tried this a time or two, and it’s been enlightening.
As a history buff (particularly aviation and space), I’d figure stops about that genre into certain routing. Some sites have been visited before, but most haven’t. I’d try to contact and hang out with old friends in certain locales, of course.
A “grand tour” (by my standards) would probably start at Monticello, then cover the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum extension at Dulles Airport (the Missus and I saw a launch of the Discovery space shuttle on our honeymoon, and it’s now on display at Dulles. Maybe the U.S. Capitol and the Native American Museum on the Washington Mall (I’ve already been to most of the other sites there).
From D.C., the next preferred stop would be the Wright brothers memorial at Kitty Hawk, the Hunley in Charleston, then Savannah (on accounta the Missus wants to visit), then around the Florida peninsula, as much as possible on routes like A1A to Key West, then back up through the Everglades and up the west side to swim with manatees in Crystal River.
Condensed list: Monticello, Dulles Airport, Washington Mall, Kitty Hawk, Charleston, Savannah, Florida Peninsula.
Other sites that are more personal include the Johnson Space Center in Houston (the third remaining Saturn V; I’ve already perused the other two), the Trinity atomic bomb site in New Mexico, and maybe the airplane “boneyard” at David-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.
Jon Ellen — Retired
1. Find an affordable 15hp motor for my boat
2. Help others
3. Fish 2-3 times per week
4. Fish in a local bass tournament
5. Teach some new anglers to fish — for bass, crappie, or catfish
6. Learn to get the best out of my Go Pro camera/videos
7. Win a bass tournament in my Jon boat
8. Win a fully equipped bass boat
9. Travel, especially to fish regional tournaments
10. TBD
Tina Calligas — Magazine Editor
1. Dance at all of my grandchildren’s weddings. (Since they are still babies — and I hope there are more to come — it would mean that I lived well into my 80s and 90s and was still healthy enough to dance.)
2. Finance all of my grandchildren’s educations.
3. Cruise around the world.
4. Win the lottery. How else will I be able to afford to finance my grandchildren’s educations and cruise around the world?
4. Totally conquer my fear of heights. I’ve come a long way with this one, but there are still times when my knees go to Jello.
5. Take my children and grandchildren to Disneyworld and Universal Studios in Orlando and to Greece to visit my parents’ island of Patmos.
Johanna Cleary — Retired University Professor
1. Travel to:
— Egypt
— Israel
— Russia
— Northern Italy
— Southern France
2. Read a book a week
3. Volunteer as a museum docent (monthly)
4. Volunteer for an animal group
5. Volunteer for a student group
6. Establish a business
— Property management
— Tour group
— Bookstore
— Art gallery
7. Write a book
