The Bucket list for a Deep Meaningful Chapter of Life
From “The Bucket List” to Your Bucket List
By Andy Asher
Why A Bucket List For Life Makes Sense
Do you have visions of what’s next in life? Is there unfinished business you want to accomplish? In 2007 a movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson resulted in a ‘catch-phrase’ still being used by practically everyone and it helped many people in the world focus on what’s really important for them. The movie was about two terminally-ill men (Freeman and Nicholson) who decide to ‘bust out’ of the cancer hospital in order to spend what little time they have left checking things off their to-do list.
Any guesses what the movie is? That’s right! The movie I’m talking about is The Bucket List.
The Phrase That Started The Craze
Not only did this movie make the term bucket list a household term it inspired people around the country to start doing life instead of just being alive.
While the movie definitely had an impact on people’s way of thinking and their approach to living, it wasn’t the first movie, song, or book to do so.
Tim McGraw released the hit song, Live Like You Were Dying in 2004. This song’s message is just that—to make each day count so that if it is your last, you won’t regret the way you spent it.
Darjeeling Limited is a movie, also released in 2007, that tells the story of three estranged brothers who set off to try to repair their relationship before it’s too late.
Katy Perry’s Eye of a Tiger and Roar both inspire us to live our dreams and go after the goals we set for ourselves.
In 2005 Michelle Trachtenberg starred in The Ice Princess, a movie about a teenager who decided to follow her own dream of being an ice skater instead of her mom’s dream for her to be a Harvard grad.
In 2006, Rascal Flatts released My Wish, which is a song that encourages us to dream big, live large, and love with everything we’ve got.
Born to Fly by Sara Evans is another song that tells us to not be afraid to go after those things that are our heart’s desires.
Books about people like Amelia Earhart, Walt Disney, Martin Luther King, Jr., and scores of others also speak volumes about the importance of not sitting on the sidelines and wondering ‘what if’.
Not New After-all
So you see the idea of having and achieving a bucket list isn’t anything new. It is also a concept that isn’t going away, because it’s just too darn important. Having a bucket list (or whatever else you might call it) motivates us to be and do more. Having a list such as this pushes us (in a good way) to think and live outside the box.
Now Where To Begin Your Bucket List
But coming up with your bucket list and then actually doing what’s on it often gets pushed to the backburner. You think it sounds like a good idea and you even think about how great it would feel to accomplish at least a few of the things on the list. But a bucket list is supposed to consist of things like skydiving, floating in the Dead Sea, visiting every national park, or roller skating one last time. But those things are just too expensive and the risk of breaking a limb just isn’t worth it, you say. So…you don’t.
When To Start Your Bucket List
Well, today is the day that all changes. Today is the day you are going to begin to discover that bucket lists aren’t just about traveling to the far ends of the earth or risking life and limb to prove something. Today is the day you are going to begin to discover that making a bucket list isn’t just about doing the outrageous or seemingly impossible, but rather they are about living the life you want to live—emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. It is a to-do list that is your personal GPS that takes you to the destination of a fulfillment in life.
Andy Asher – Editor Andy handles the day to day tasks of maintaining the multiple platforms that compromise Bloomer Boomer. It’s a passion that started with a neighborhood newspaper and progressed through college and a career in broadcast journalism. The audience focus of Bloomer Boomer was largely from the influence of his physician father who later in life specialized Gerontology where Andy could see the great need for a thought-leading publication for people over 50.
Category: Blog, Bucket Lists, Life
