Age, we all age. The young will soon grow old; the old will soon die. Growing old is part of life. We are born, we grow, we die. It is what we do between the birth and death that defines us. For what we do in the middle, the wrong turns, the paths not taken, shape who we are today.

When we come to a certain age in our lives, we have a habit of thinking back. We look back on all those missed opportunities, the wrong choices, and the roads not taken. We daydream what might have been. We try to add that excitement back into our lives. To regain what’s lost and gain what could have been.

Lists, we all create them. We list our favorite movies, books, and television shows. We write a list out before heading to the grocery store, always forgetting the list, or an item or two. We have our “Honey to Do,” lists for our spouses. We have lists of chores for the children. We create lists for ourselves: a “Bucket List.”

The term, “Bucket List,” became popular by Hollywood in 2007. The film, The Bucket List, stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, who are two patients who are dying. They escape the hospital to fulfill their ‘wish list’ of things to do before death comes to claim them.

A “Bucket List” is a list of items you want to do or wish you could do. I am talking about exciting stuff, not things like returning to school or finding your dream job. I am talking about adventures, odd things, and “I can’t believe I did that,” moments.

When building your list, try small items first and work your way up to the big adventures. Working your way up will help build your self-esteem and courage. You can use numbers or bullets for your list. I don’t use numbers, numbers mean order and with a “Bucket List,” who wants order?

You can work on your “Bucket List” alone or with friends and family. Heck, people you meet on your “Bucket Adventures” may help you in completing your quests. They may add more adventures to your list.

By Toby Hudson (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

A few things from my “Bucket List:”

• Cosplay
• Go to conventions (Con festivals), like Comic-Con, X-Fest, Walker Stalker, and the like.
• Dog Sledding
• Ride a Zip Line
• Explore a Cave
• Indoor Skydive
• Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
• Swim with Dolphins
• Chase a Tornado
• Release Baby Turtles into the Ocean
• Go to Japan
  • The Cat Islands (Aoshima Island and Tashiro-jima Island, and Enoshima Island)
  •  Akihabara – known for anime, gaming, and manga culture.
• Spend time on an animal conservation center.
• Be in a movie, television show or commercial.
• Road trip
• Spend a week in the forest
• Spend a weekend in a haunted place

What’s on your “Bucket List?”