By Susan Govern
A new year has started and there is hope that 2017 will be one of peace and good health and happiness…this is something I am sure we all want. Many of us, myself included, think of the new year as a time to work toward self-improvement…to start over on doing away with bad habits.
Year after year I have promised that I would get healthy or exercise more or both, and my intentions are good, but I don’t end up where I want to be at the end of the year.
So I have decided to take a different approach to the New Year. Instead of making New Years Resolutions…I am making a New Years Bucket List. I know that many people associate a bucket list with things you wish to do before you someday “kick the bucket”, but I think a bucket list can be so much more than that.
When I was a child, I actually had a bucket list in my mind. I didn’t know that’s what it was called…to me it was a wish list. I dreamed of doing many things and each time I came up with a new idea of something I would want to try or think of a place I wanted to visit…I would mentally add it to my list.
Looking back, I’ve achieved much of what was on that list and have mentally drawn a line through each one. At the same time, I have found that for each item I’ve eliminated, I’ve added another one (or two or three).
For example ~ as a little girl I watched westerns on television. I grew up with shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke; I watched many old western movies too. So, on my list I had it that this girl from Ohio would someday visit the western states. I’ve done that, several times. Each time I’ve traveled I have visited new places out west, but also revisited some from previous trips. The best part of doing this…I came to truly appreciate the beauty of our country and have had the great pleasure of meeting many wonderful people.
When I was in elementary school I discovered I had a love for history and geography. I added to my list to visit historic places I wanted to know more about. I also wished to see places like the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls in Canada, and countries in Europe. Over the years I have been able to cross these off.
Now I plan to take those things that are still there on my mental bucket list, and revise it to include some new goals for a new year.
The best thing about a personal bucket list is you don’t have to feel bad if you don’t “meet your goals” for the year – you can “roll-over” things from one year to the next and you can fill it with grand ideas, or simple small ones. I’m going to start with something I can do every day during this new year; on my bucket list I’m putting down to be kinder and more patient when I encounter frustrating situations. Another thing is to take time to enjoy listening to music the way I used to. When I was a pre-teen up through the time I finished college, it seemed like I listened to all types of music practically every day, a habit I let slip away.
As for bigger items, making a point to visit more interesting parts of Ohio with my husband that neither of us have seen will definitely make the list.
Years ago I had put on my mental list to learn to fly a plane. I may just work toward accomplishing that by starting on it this year. Another old item I may rescue from my youth is to go see a railroad museum (there’s one in Pennsylvania I have heard about). If I don’t get around to doing these things, it won’t mean I have failed…I can always try again next year or some other time in the future.
A bucket list is something personal – it is a precious thing for each individual because with a bucket list you can set your goals as high as you want or keep them as simple as you want. Go ahead and shoot for the stars by putting on your list to visit a space museum this year. Keep it as simple as a promise to finally have a date night at a restaurant you’ve heard about and plan to do it before the end of the year.
For me…my bucket list is a work in progress…much the same as I am a work in progress. I have a lot of living to do, this year and into the many years to come. That means for as long as I have a bucket list, I’m keeping it a nice mix of big and small things I plan to do and see.
For 2017 – I wish the same for you – that your bucket list may be filled with many wonderful hopes and dreams.
