What's on your bucket list?

 

I used to have a poster on a wall of my college dorm of an elaborate sandcastle that had the caption, “Fashion a dream and make it come true.”

I was reminded of that years later when I saw the movie “The Bucket List.” That movie popularized the term “bucket list,” meaning the things you want to do before you kick the bucket.

Whenever someone mentions a place they’ve gone to or a thing they’ve done, it’s not uncommon to say, “That’s on my bucket list.” But really, do any of us have a list or are there just a bunch of random things we say we’d like to see and do?

As the saying goes, a goal without a plan is just a wish. Like most people, I have never written down a list of things for my bucket list and that’s probably why I haven’t accomplished many of them. But it’s not enough to just write them down, although that is a very good first step.

When it comes to creating your own bucket list, it’s best to divide it into two categories: Things you want to see or visit and things you want to do or experience. Looking back over my life, had I written down a bucket list, there is an incredible number of things that would already be crossed off it. I’ve been tandem skydiving, ridden in a hot air balloon, gone on cruises to Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean, met numerous celebrities, photographed professional football and baseball games (including a World Series!), and most recently I’ve crossed visiting Mount Rushmore off my list.

Although I never considered this as a bucket list item, I think the greatest thing I’ve done is to marry Sandy and raise four exceptionally wonderful children.

Looking ahead, there are still a great many things on my bucket list(s).

On my list of places to go and see:

• Visit every continent
• Visit all 50 states (just four more to go)
• Visit too many cities and countries to list here
• Visit the Louvre and all the Smithsonian museums
• Visit all of the presidential libraries
• Visit Yellowstone and many other national parks

On my list of things to do and experience:

• Finish writing my reenactment photo book
• Write other books
• Photograph every NFL team (three more to go)
• Experience weightlessness
• Go scuba diving
• Go on an African safari
• Fly in a blimp
• Go on a deer hunt (and other big game)
• Appear in a movie
• Dive on the Titanic

These lists pretty much scratch the surface of my bucket list, but at least now I have them down in writing. It’s something you should do, too. Keep in mind that the list is fluid. You cross things off as you do them and you add to it as you discover more things you’d like to see and do.

The most important thing for me is to do as many of these things as I can with Sandy and to help her do as many of hers as I can.

Once you have your list in writing, it’s much easier to make a plan to do some or all of them. I know there are things on my list that I will probably never do, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to do them. The thing is, none of them happen without a plan – set a date and a budget to do it.

You don’t want to get to the end of your life and discover that your bucket is still full, and you’ve missed out on the opportunity to experience your life to the fullest. You need to fashion your dream and make it come true.

Ultimately, when my time has come and I finally kick the bucket, there is one thing left that I want to experience – the joy of coming before the glory of God and hearing, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” And I want that for you as well.