Is there anything you’d like to do before you leave?

Of all the euphemisms for dying, “kicking the bucket” is probably the least elegant, and so the term “Bucket List” seems equally crass by association. The idea of this list, however, is a good one, and one that you should give some thought to well before the need arises. If you wait until the end of your life to put together a list of things you want to do before you die, you might end up with a list that doesn’t really suit you, a list that reflects what other people typically want, versus what you want. 

The Bucket List doesn’t have to be a list of adrenaline-fueled activities, like sky diving, running with the bulls, or hiking to the edge of a volcano. There’s nothing wrong with any of these, but it’s perfectly fine if your list is made up of totally low-key things like writing a song, riding a horse, or sleeping under the desert stars. Once you realize that you actually have your entire life⏤anywhere from one to a hundred years⏤to complete your Bucket List, it may change your conception of what you want to do. You can shoot for negotiating a global peace treaty before you die, but you can also aim for being a peacemaker in your own home.

Here are some potential Bucket List items for your life-long journey:

  • Design and build your own home
  • Visit the homeland of your ancestors
  • Buy a piece of land to call your own
  • Travel to every continent on Earth
  • Grow all of your own food
  • Learn to speak fluently in another language
  • Give away 10% of everything you earn
  • Visit the sacred places of your faith
  • Help someone change the entire trajectory of their life
  • Create a community of trust where there is none
  • Find the outer limits of your physical strength and endurance
  • Create a small nugget of wealth to pass on to someone with nothing
  • Start your own business
  • Create something that outlives you
  • Anonymously relieve someone of a crushing debt
  • Push your natural aptitudes to the limit
  • Travel to every state in the United States
  • Walk with the lightest footprint possible
  • Raise happy and healthy children in a loving family

What’s on your list, and what are you waiting for?

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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