Bucket List

My ears perked up and my imagination soared when my husband started a sentence with “I crossed something off my bucket list this week” as we drove around Nags Head, North Carolina on a partly-cloudy morning in our 2012 Nissan Rouge vacation rental car.  Quickly, my mind started sifting through what we had done so far on our first family vacation. 
We drove eleven hours through the night and into the early morning to arrive at our destination. 

Tommy at different times of night/day on the ride down.

We swam in the pool.  

We made a trip to the aquarium. 

We saw the ocean, walked and played in the sand. 

We stayed up late drinking craft beers and tasting wine. 

We went out to eat.  We laughed and played games.  Even the kids played well together.

All of these things were fun and exciting…but, none seemed bucket list worthy.   Perplexed and curious, I asked him what it was that he crossed off his bucket list and his simple answer of, “I got to take my family on a vacation.” melted my heart.  OF COURSE, going on our first family vacation should have a spot on a bucket list!  I had never thought to add it to mine…then again - I don’t know that I officially have one!  And so, thanks to Paul and his genuine joy and excitement for providing us with our first family vacation, I have decided to create my own bucket list!

I’ve always been “in” to goal setting and reflecting – I blame the teacher in me for this!  I came up with a few guidelines as I started to prepare my own bucket list.

·        Find a way to sort it out - I am going to organize my bucket list by age.  Like:  by the time I hit 30, 40, 50 (eeeek), etc. 

·         Know the purpose - Usually, when I set goals I want them to be “attainable”.  However, the purpose of this bucket list is to think of anything that I want to do in my lifetime…and so, if it’s something I want to do, I’m adding it to the list.  It is important that I remember that nothing is too grandiose or too simple.  It’s MY list!                                                                                                                                          

·        Stick to it...without obsessing over it - I won’t get discouraged if everything on my bucket list doesn’t get crossed off as timely as I would like it to.  As my previous post mentioned, life came at me pretty quickly a few years ago…and so, if I had created a bucket list in my early twenties, it’s safe to say that there probably would have been several goals left untouched!

·        Document It! – Since I’m taking the time to create a bucket list, I will be documenting the things I accomplish either through this blog, a scrapbook or a journal.  Obviously, some items may have more documentation than others.  J 

·        Copy and Store It! - While I will have the blog entry from today, I will also be printing a few copies to keep with me.  One will always stay in my nightstand and another in my bible where I keep any card, note, quote, or picture that I hold close to my heart.

·         Add to it! – If I think of things that I want to do that I hadn’t thought of before, I’m adding them to my list!  After all, I AM the author.

·        Remember Voltaire – “Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her.  But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.”  Bottom line, we might not write our own ending, but we do have the power to paint our own story.

Keeping all of that in mind (and the fact that I am already 27), I created a short, 20 item B4 30 Bucket List.  Like my hubby, some items are simplistic and other's are a little more out of the box.  Stay tuned as I share progress along the way as I, *hopefully*, cross things off of this list.  

Feel like sharing?  What ideas do you have for your bucket list?