Bucket List
What do you want life to say about you? How will your story be told?
There is great talk around creating bucket lists; a collection of thoughts and ideas for all of the places to see, experience and relish before we die. I have one and most of what is on my list is travel. (I may need to secure a job with National Geographic or the President’s press corp. There are that many places on my list.)
The perfectionist self which lurks inside of most of us longs to have a master life list so we don’t miss anything. The hardest piece of this pie is we will. We are imperfect souls and there will be boxes left unchecked on our list when we leave this planet.
A bucket list – our hopes and aspirations, gathered in one place with a box next to our dream and checked off when we it is done.
While I adore the thought of looking back at wonderful experiences I have done “someday” I am completely not content with waiting to experience life in only the big wow moments found in the future.
What if, instead of a list of dreams we aspire to reach “someday”, we crafted a daily bucket list with random moments and experiences we had collected to share joy and love in a million tiny ways with the world we rub shoulders with each day?
A few ideas to try –
- Smile at unsmiling people until you find one who smiles back? GREAT fun – trust me!
- Notice people and tell them. We all need to matter, look for ways to compliment another.
- Speak words of kindness and encouragement to your spouse or children. Those who are closest to us often get our leftovers. We are kind to strangers, but not as often to our families.
- Work for your employer as though you were the boss…give more than what is expected or required.
- Call a friend whom you love. Tell them how great they are. That’s it. You will make their day – I promise.
- Scrape snow from a car next to you or leave a plate of cookies for a neighbor to find. You can smile all day to yourself, imagining their big smile when they realize they have been bombed with kindness!
- Learn a new word every day – and use it!
- Day dream. Watch a sunset or sit in silence as snow falls outside your window. Allow yourself to think about nothing for a few minutes each day. Just sit.
- Find a great song and sing at the top of your lungs in the car. Don’t care who sees you, for once don’t care if you are silly or not. Just sing for the sheer joy of the music.
Bucket lists need not only be for big and someday moments. Creating a daily bucket list of hopes and dreams for the here and now allows us to focus on what matters most. Being intentional with our life in the small moments can bring greater clarity, simplicity and fulfilment to the big picture too.
What we focus on happens. What we do not … does not.
I try the smile project almost every day and am working on being a more intentional life speaker to my Hubs. I am a little bothered by how hard that one is for me. I am great at telling others how they are precious, loved and valued they are.. as I focus on this small yet big change for him, I feel an ouch inside. When we were dating, this was effortless. After 32 years of wedded bliss, it is both a joy and a challenge to look for ways to tell him he is special on a daily basis.
The possibilities are endless and without limit. The cost to make a difference via a daily bucket list is low and the returns are incredibly high.
Friends are you up for the challenge ? Ready to change the world? Let’s do it!
Hi Nancy,
Looking back over 2015 when you posted this how did you do with your bucket list? This was a great post!
Thanks Helena! It is a work in progress.. still smiling at strangers, still working to daily speak into my hubs life and challenging myself to daily look for ways to bring joy and adventure to the world around me! How about YOU?
Blessings- Nancy
I love that list! And definitely love the idea of intentional bucket lists for the day and for the small things.
Hugs Juni! Let’s keep filling our buckets with dreams, hopes and memories!
Nancy
hey nancy, I was wondering if I could repost this on my website? of course I would be linking it back to here. this was timely for me and would really hit home for others.
http://www.sapphireconnection.com
I would also like to put your coaching in my directory if you like.
blessings
lois
ps enjoying ‘art of work’
Lois-
Happy to hear you found “Bucket List” timely! I would be happy and honored to have you share it with others on your site- would appreciate you linking back as you mentioned.
The community and resources you are sharing at sapphire connection are beautiful.
Blessings to you!!!
Nancy
Love your bucket list Nancy! It is so easy to get caught up in our busy lives that we forget the little things that make life awesome.
Jennifer- Oh yes.. the little small seemingly insignificant moments…these are what make a life well lived and celebrated!
Blessings as you collect your moments and intentionally create your daily bucket list!
This is fabulous! I agree with not waiting, which is the whole premise of SoonerNotLater.com! I so hope we can keep in touch! How’s the blogging challenge going for you?
loving the daily shares from Nat and especially the fabulous connections we are making here. I think I need to head over to soonernotlater.com to see what is happening over there 🙂
Blessings- and YES.. lets stay in touch especially since we seem to have a very similar passion!
Nancy
What a great reminder! It’s easy to get caught up in the big things and forget those little everyday things that matter!
Bit by bit.. the pieces of our lives are collected like ants collect food for the winter… a little at a time to create the sum of the whole! Thanks for stopping by Mandi!!
I needed this reminder Nancy! It is so easy to just go through the motions day after day. I’m going to have to work on my daily bucket list!
Justin-
Keep me posted on how the daily bucket list is working for YOU… I love love to hear how others are changing their corner of the planet!
Blessings
I sure appreciate you. I can picture you smiling at others to get them to smile back. I’ll pray for you, that making your hubby feel special will become even easier. Maybe it’s one of those, just keep doing it until it does, kind of things.
doing the next right thing… with great love !!
I think it’s very important to make live intentionally day by day. Allowing the day to go by in a stream of consciousness like way causes us to miss out on important details. Starting my day with prayer better prepares me for the unexpected in ways I might, otherwise, overlook. You’ve given wonderful suggestions, several I’m going to make a sincere effort towards.
Shelley- Love it you found some nuggets tucked inside this post… on my way to work I decided to dial up the Broadway music channel on my radio in the car… turned it up LOUD and sang… and danced (it is possible to dance sitting down you know that right ??) all the way to work .. what fun! I may have gotten a few folks glancing sideways at me at the stoplight- but I’ll bet it’s because they wished they were dancing too.
My whole day was better… just because!
Have fun today-
Nancy
Great post, Nancy.
We lost my husband’s brother to cancer less than a year ago. Somehow I find myself noticing more of what I appreciate in my hubby now. Perspective. I am so grateful for health and life. And yes, it makes me more willing to express that gratitude and appreciation.
It’s so much about noticing and being intentional with every moment!
Blessings