DAY 59 - MY BUCKET LIST

One of the things I’ve been wanting to do for the past few years is go back to Oakland to visit. But it seemed like there was always some reason I couldn’t – no time, no money, etc. It was one of those Bucket List items that I’d written down, but wasn’t sure how to make it happen. Then the universe created a way for it to happen – and last week in Oakland was just what I needed.

   Two months ago, as I sat down and started working on this 83-day Journey, I wrote down a few ideas – just thoughts really. Calling it a “plan” might be too lofty for the few notions I jotted down … but on the plan I wrote down a few goals that I want to work on:  Family, Friends, Romance, Career, etc. There are a million things I want to do with my life, and the best way to do them is to start with a plan.

   I think “Bucket List” is really the best way to describe it. Things I want to do. Things I want to accomplish. Some things are fun “Quick Hits” (like this trip to Oakland) – and others will take time. But that’s OK, I have my whole life still ahead of me – and a year from now I will be a year older anyway, no matter what I do (or don’t do).

   And it’s not like I’m starting at Zero. I’ve had a terrific life and done some pretty fabulous things so far. I’ve already got checkmarks next to some pretty great Bucket List items. I fancy myself a fairly accomplished pianist. I’ve driven a Formula One racecar on a Nascar track. I even met a few of my idols including legendary baseball coach Billy Martin, and my professional idol Zig Ziglar. And I’ve been to some pretty fabulous places, including Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas, Japan, and most of the United States.

   This summer specifically, with my crazy travel schedule for work, I really made an effort to knock a bunch more items off my Bucket List. I drove the Florida Keys in a convertible and went to Key West. I held an alligator (a couple of times). I went to the Nauvoo Pageants (both of them). I went to the Football Hall of Fame, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Biosphere 2, the Andy Warhol Museum. And I did it all because I knew that I wouldn’t be back to some of those places ever again, and I didn’t want to let an opportunity slip by. I didn’t want to regret missing any of it.

Yes, that really is me up there
in Cannon's Balloon - July 2012

   And today I updated my Bucket List. I reviewed the list and remembered some of the fabulous things I’ve already been able to do in this life – and I added a few things too. Some fun, some meaningful, some just take a few phone calls and a VISA card, some may take years to accomplish. But I am working on them NOW. I’m not waiting until … because that “something” never comes. Today is here right now – and there truly is no time like the present.

   Because I don’t want to live a life of Regrets. At the end of my days, I want to reflect on a (hopefully) very long life and an even longer list of accomplishments. I want to say “I remember when I did …” and not say “What if ….” Not that my life has been perfect – far from it – but I “own” everything I’ve done and every decision I’ve made. And I wouldn’t trade any moment of it – because everything that I have done has made me who I am. And I like who I am. And I like where I am in my life. And changing even one second of my past would unravel it all.