The List

Inspired by my friend MFF's blog listing her bucket list, I wanted to give it a go for myself. Really I had never thought of it, but it may be an interesting journey of thought.

As most know, a bucket list is the list of things you want to do before you 'kick the bucket'. I wondered, as I always do, where such a phrase originated. In my search on the web, I came up with this definition:

...the phrase comes from "an old-school suicide technique." The depressed person would allegedly stand atop a bucket with his or her head in a noose, then kick away the bucket and take a one-way trip to the great beyond. Another source agrees this might be the answer, but offers another, even more gruesome, possibility. Slaughtered hogs "were traditionally hung by their heels on a high wooden block." This block was called a bucket because the ill-fated hogs were hoisted with a rope and pulley in a manner similar to how a bucket of water is pulled from a well. Supposedly, the hogs' dying struggles as they kicked against this so-called bucket led to the birth of the idiom.

Yuck.

So, anyway...the term 'bucket list' comes from the 2007 movie of the same name, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I never saw the movie, just the trailer; apparently these older gentlemen want to take one more crack at their life-long wishes. Who can blame them?

That leads me to pondering my own life-long wishes. Having reached the ripe old age of forty-five, I tend to be much more introspective these days, so let's give it a go...

1. First and foremost, before I die, I want to go back to Israel. Having said that, though, if I got to go again (I've had the pleasure of going two times already...I should be content, right?) I will only just want to turn around and go again and again and again. I suppose this wish will be on my list until I die, no matter how many times I get to go.

2. I would like to visit Hawaii again, as well. Such a beautiful place. *sigh*

3. I'd like to be in top physical condition at some point before I die. Yeah, I'm workin' on it, but not sure if I'll ever make it. I think my next move towards this goal is learning some sort of martial arts. (I just mentioned that to one of my younglings, and they just looked at me like I was nuts. *shrug*)

4. I want to attend a Star Wars Celebration. Oh yeah, that would be completely and totally awesome, especially if we (my Padawan and I) got to meet Jedi-J and G. *nodding*

5. Before I expire, I want to live either in a high-rise modern condo over looking Puget Sound or in a shabby-chic cottage on the beach. Oh, and without financial worries at both of those locations (hey, I'm dreamin' now!)

6. I want to live long enough to see all three of my children grown to adulthood, happy and prosperous. Not much I can do to make that happen (that I'm not already doing), but it's still a wish.

7. Before I die, I'd like to somehow apologize to all the people in my life that have endured heartache because of my actions. I have started...with my mother.

8. Not really a goal 'before I die', but I'm working diligently to hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant". I know, I won't hear those words until after the bucket has been kicked, but I need to be working towards that goal now, don't you think?

Gosh, I can't think of any more. I wonder if that is because I try to live now, not putting off what is important 'til later, attempting to make those things that I really want to do happen. I heartily encourage my husband, children, family and friends to do the same - you only get to live one life!

Perhaps that is the lesson of making a bucket list; none of us can know the day of our demise, nor the means. The best time to make things happen, see dreams come true, is now...today.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

~Dale Carnegie

And, why a picture of champagne, you ask? Well, let's just say that's my kind of bucket...