Here is the thing.
Just
everybody I've encountered over the last number of years, wanted to or was in
the process of making a Bucket List. Very few of those have actually done
anything on their lists. What? Oh, a Bucket List is a list of unusual things
you want to do before you die (kick the bucket). This is a sample:
3. Visit the
pyramids in Egypt
4.
Go skydiving
5.
Read War and Peace
6.
Watch Titanic.
It
is a simple task to compile a stack of lists, simply look on the internet and
you are sure to find lots of 100 Books to Read, 100 Movies to Watch, 100 Places
to Visit, 100 Things To Do, before you die. Unfortunately most Bucket Lists are
compiled too late to of any use, as these things are put together by people
like me. We haven't got enough time or money for a proper Bucket List.
The
good news is that the folks of Amazon or Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster Video,
Travelocity and Ultimate Adventures are all happy to take your money and sell
you stuff; some of which you may actually enjoy seeing, reading or doing.
However,
none of those lists in any way represent stuff I would like to do or not to
do. Sounds like Hamlet, and is a bit like that:
“There
are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your
philosophy.”
Meaning that whatever you decide to put on a bucket list, it can never be
definitive, or at least it is true in my case. One can spend the rest of one's
life putting together a list of things to do and never get to the point of
actually doing anything as it is not possible to include all the wonderful new
things which are discovered every day. Fancy a trip to space? Bet you it was
not on anybody's list a year ago.
“There
is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Yes, more
Hamlet. By the way, if you have never done so, take the plunge and read Hamlet
(you can get it for free on Project Gutenberg), and be awestruck by the
skilful writing of Shakespeare. There is also no harm in tackling the rest of
Shakespeare's tragedies - they are all brilliant. Back to the point. One simply
cannot compile a list of things without deciding what is on the list and what
is not, what is good stuff to do and what isn't.
I
think the way to compile a Bucket List, is to make a list of things you DON'T
want to do before you die. These things are neither good nor bad - examples:
14. Get a
divorce.
15.
Eating healthy meals.
16.
Kiss a hippo.
17.
Attend a school reunion while using a walker.
18.
Read War and Peace in Russian. etcetera.
What
happens if you include something on your Bucket List that you really look
forward to doing, get to do it and then find it was the pits - e.g. you arrive in
Egypt and find that you can no longer visit the great pyramids because of
religious intolerance or that they are closed for renovation. Feeling silly yet? No?
OK. You travel to Bangkok (number 3 on your list) only to find that customs
found stuff in your luggage and you spend the next 20 years in a Bangkok jail.
On the other hand, you arrive in China, fall in love with the country and stay
on for many, many years, end up on your Chinese deathbed and then realise you
have forgotten all about the Bucket List.
The
way to tackle a Bucket List is to simply do something, anything, now and, if
you like it, keep on doing it until you think of something else to do. Forget
routine and planning. If you have a touch of Alzheimer's, every journey is an
new adventure. If you think that today is a good day to go to the zoo, do it.
If you wake in the morning and feel tired and full of pains, stay in bed a
while longer and think about what a good day yesterday was. If physical travel gets
too much or too expensive, take virtual holidays - watch NatGeo TV or rent a
BBC Nature doccie. And soon...
Surprise,
surprise - you are actually doing the stuff on your Bucket List.
----O----
And
after you have finally kicked the bucket, there is one more thing to do:
101.
Attend own funeral to see who pitches.
