Got Your Bucket?

Someone said something to me the other day about a bucket list.  We all have one, whether it’s documented, or just the stuff you dream about when sitting in traffic on your way to work.  I was in middle school when I wrote my first list of “things I wanted to accomplish.”   I guess that was my bucket list, even if I didn’t know it at the time.

Twelve years later, after returning from Ecuador, I came home to my mom’s house in Akron and went through some old stuff I had in boxes.  Seeing that old list on lined notebook paper, with my big, seemingly unattainable dreams and goals scribbled in pencil (with smiley faces drawn in the margins), I had to smile.

Amazingly, the Peace Corps was on the list.  I don’t remember evening knowing much about it at age 13, but somehow I ended up joining at age 22.  I also wanted to study abroad, to learn a new language, and to make it to State in high school track!  I wanted to go on a safari and I wanted to drive across the country.  (Little did I know that choosing ASU would mean at least 4 cross-country road trips, one solo, and most of the nights spent in tents in state parks with my college roommate. Careful what you wish for, right?)

I think there was also something about getting Jason Kucharski to ask me to “go” with him, too, but hey, you win some and you lose some. Jason never did fall in love with me, but I survived that heartbreak, as well as a few others along the way.

Except for stealing Jason’s heart, I was amazed at how many of those “wishes” actually came true.  I don’t remember actively staying on top of that list back then, but I do think that writing it down somehow filed it in my brain, and the wanderlust and desire for adventure never quite escaped me moving forward.

In every business, leadership, and sales training course I’ve taken, I’ve learned that to achieve our goals, we must OWN them. Write them down, look at them regularly, and let them be a part of you.  Back in the 8th grade, I don’t think I was doing anything more than using my #2 pencil to transfer my big dreams into just another diary entry, but it was fun at the time to truly put NO limits on what I wanted to get out of my young life and to see how creative I could get with my big, fat wish list.  Kids have no fear dreaming big– have you noticed that?  What the heck happens as we get older? Why do we start to limit ourselves? What in the world are we afraid of?

This photo was taken at the top of Table Mountain on our last day in Cape Town, South Africa. I finally got all my photos off of my camera today, and when I saw this photo it made me smile.  Not because I look so fabulous (joke), but because of what I see around me.  It’s simply breathtaking.  We were at the southern tip of the African continent, so far from where I started, and a little bit closer to where I want to be.  Not geographically speaking, but where I want to be in the sense of not fearing new things, always putting myself out there to achieve BIG goals, or at least start chipping away at them, and essentially . . . dreaming big.

What’s in your bucket list? I’m ready to start a new one.  Not the practical stuff, either.  The BIG stuff.  How many people say that they want to go on a big adventure but never do?

My sister Lauren had been talking about going to Thailand for a few years. She finally did, solo, this past December. I didn’t think she’d go through with it. She had the time of her life and I was so proud of her for actually facing her fears (let’s face it — it’s scary to do that alone) and totally stepping outside of her comfort zone.

(Sorry, Lou, but I stole this from your Facebook page.)  Love the hat.

Time to whip out your #2 pencil (or just log into your facebook page, blog, or twitter— modern day diaries) and just let it flow.  Fill up that bucket and don’t hold back.  It’ll be pretty cool to look back years later and see how many you’ve crossed off the list.