Tuesday, November 4, 2014

My Un-Bucket List

 

It seems that everyone has a bucket list these days. 

I wrote about my bucket list awhile back, but lately I have been wondering if it was very realistic, if I will ever get around to doing anything on that list.

For example, one of my goals was to live out my reality TV dream and go on "Survivor" and "Amazing Race."  What was I thinking?  "Survivor?"  Do I really want to sit around all day with a bunch of people who are plotting against me, especially when I continually lose the competitions for them?  Not to mention parading around in all manner of undress alongside young women who actually look good in bikinis?  And even if I didn't get voted out right away, the boredom would get to me first.

Or "The Amazing Race?" I don't think my marriage could withstand the tension.  I yell at Hubby as it is.  Just imagine what I would be like in a race, catching trains and planes, driving in unfamiliar countries (I am a terrible backseat driver as it is), not to mention our having to do tasks together, tasks that include repelling off of 50 story buildings, eating disgusting food, herding sheep and jumping out of planes. I can just hear myself shouting, "HUBBY, DAMMIT,
#%$*&#, YOU ARE LETTING THE SHEEP GET AWAY!"  No way.

Speaking of jumping out of planes, I don't understand some of the common things you find on other people's bucket lists. 

There are some standard inclusions that make me wonder, do these people really understand what they are getting into?  Do they really want to do these things?  Would I want to do those things?

As a retired person, I am committed to not doing anything I don't want to do. It's my job.

So I have decided to compile an "Un-Bucket List," things that are common on other people's bucket lists that I do NOT want to do before I die.



1.  Climb Mount Everest.

People, did you not read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer? 



It's dangerous up there.  And it's cold and you have to carry heavy packs and sleep in tents and use god knows what kinds of outdoor toilets. And it's crowded.  It's almost like Walmart on Black Friday.  Nooooo, no, no, no.

2.  Sky-dive
What the hell?  I don't get this at all.  Jumping out of a plane 13,000 feet above the ground with nothing between you and certain death except a little thing on your back that is supposed to open when you pull the cord and save your life?  Websites advertise over a minute of freefall.  Yippee.  NOT!  I can't imagine anything scarier. Bungee jumping also falls into this category.  Doing something like this is when you have too much time on your hands.


3.  Go into space on Virgin Galactic



Let's just say that since this happened, Princess Beatrice, who was supposed to be the most famous first passenger, has given up her seat on one of the first flights. I rest my case.


4.  Participate in an Iron Man Triathlon

First of all, a marathon is bad enough.  I can't imagine running 5 miles let alone 26.  Add to that biking 100 miles and swimming.  Sounds like torture to me.  Besides, I can't swim.

5.  Learn a new language
Though this is a noble goal - I think it's terrible that Americans rarely speak a language other than English and then travel and expect people in other countries to speak English - this is something that has passed me by.  I can barely remember why I went into the kitchen let alone remember the vocabulary of another language.

6.  Join the Mile High Club
That might have been a goal in my younger years, but all I am going to say here is that airplane toilets are getting smaller and smaller.

7.  Live Abroad.
I always wanted to move to the U.K., but then life got in the way and I acquired too much crap.  Plus we had kids who had their lives and interests and would have had a fit if we had dragged them to Europe.  But even now that the kids are grown, we still have so much crap, it's difficult to conceive of moving overseas.  And we have dogs.  They don't like you to bring dogs from America to the U.K.  Our little darlings could never withstand the six months of quarantine that is required nor could I.
These pampered pets wouldn't last a week in quarantine.



8.  Swim with sharks
Are you kidding me?  Didn't you see "Jaws?"




I could go on and on.  There are people who have bucket lists with 10,000 items on them. 

I have been fortunate.  I have done many of the things that appear on people's bucket lists and that I personally wanted to do. 

I have ridden a gondola in Venice, kissed Hubby on a bridge in Paris, traveled to 20 countries, and I have lived on a canal boat in Oxford. I can play an instrument, I meditate, I volunteer, I started this blog, IMDB publishes my reviews and I have walked all 25 stair walks in Seattle.



But here is something to think about. 

Is having a bucket list a good idea? 

Doesn't having a list that includes things like staying in a hut in the Maldives, meeting Oprah Winfrey and being an extra in a movie set ourselves up for failure and possibly keep us from building a good life for ourselves with what we have now?  Does having such a list fill a void in our lives that should be filled with the here and now?  Are we all in competition?

Yes, it is good to have goals, but these lists also encourage us to live in the future and in so doing perhaps we will miss out on today.

What do you think? 

Here is further discussion on this from "The Guardian," "Bucket Lists:  Are They a Good Idea?"

Right now, I am retired and for me, retirement is all about finally doing what I want to do, not what I don't really realistically want to do, just so I can have a cool bucket list.

At this stage in my life, I have realized that I don't need adrenaline and adventure to feel alive, to feel I have lived a full life.  Now it's all about living consciously, loving my family, watching my grandchildren grow, and finding the meaning in my life. 

Oh, and watching those 1001 movies!

Do you have a bucket list?

And if so, how are you doing?

 
Thanks for Reading!

See you Friday
 
for my review of the new movie
 
 
as well as some interesting DVDs,

and an update on how I am doing

on my

 "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project."
 
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