Bucket List vs. Life List
Ever since the movie, The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, I’ve struggled to make a list of what I want to do with whatever time I have remaining on this earth. Most people I’ve asked seem to include places they want to go or things they want to do, but I’d rather just live each day to the fullest (See “Why Today is so Important.”).
Maybe I’m not adventurous enough, but if I found out I only had six more months to live, I don’t think I’d feel the least deprived by anything I’ve left undone or unseen. I feel so grateful already for those things I have done and I would only want to spend the remaining time with loved ones, tying loose ends, and encouraging them as much as possible.
Not that I’m in any hurry to be faced with this, mind you.
Since the idea of making a bucket list hasn’t resonated so much with me, I was intrigued to listen to an interview recently from a Success Magazine CD (one of my favorite subscriptions) with speaker and leadership expert John Maxwell in which he talked about the importance of creating a “Life List”—a list of those things you want to do every day of your life. It is “motivated by dreaming about the sort of person you aspire to be rather than the kinds of things you want to do.”
Here are the criteria he gives for a properly constructed life list:
- Your life-list should consist of just a few things.
- Your life-list should consist of only the most important things.
- Your life-list should reflect your values.
- Your life-list should be your life-list. In other words, it should not be based on considerations of the kind of person others expect you to be, but instead, on the person you dream of becoming.
For some reason, this exercise appealed to me, and I enjoyed scribbling ideas and condensing them down to meet the criteria. I thought the only way I’d remember it would be to start with something I already knew by heart: Faith, Hope, and Love (I Corinthians 13:13). Here’s what I came up with:
Elizabeth’s Life List
- Faith: Talk to God and ask for guidance.
- Hope: Dream big and take action.
- Love: Show Love and respect to all, including myself.
- Gratitude: Count my blessings, because gratitude is essential to happiness.
As writer Annie Dillard said in The Writing Life, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” So if a life list can help us focus on the best way to spend our days, what a life we can have!
Have you written your life list?
Go on; it’s fun.
Once it’s done and you’ve pretty much memorized it, you’ll be amazed how it can inform your choices and priorities for the rest of your life.
And it’s certainly not cast in stone. If you want to edit or revise it in a day or week or year, who’s to stop you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the Comments below, and I’d be honored to have you share your life list when you’ve written it.
LAMY 2000 Fountain Pen
I wrote three and realized they were all “L” words, so I decided to go with that –
Love – family and friends
Learn – continue going for the degree, but also “look it up” when something interests me
Listen – and remember that just because an opinion is mine, doesn’t mean it’s correct or fully thought out
Look – at people, at nature, at my world
LIVE! – decide to go on adventures, even if I have to do it alone; enjoy time with myself, a good book, down time; and say ‘yes’ to new opportunities.
These are fantastic, Karen — and you are using the L-words the way I used the Faith, Hope, Love words — easier to remember! A Life Plan is not much good if you can’t remember the gist of it. What I especially love about yours, Karen, is that I know it resonates with your values and the way you do, in actuality, try to live your life. You’ve inspired me!
I still have a bucket list, but I guess, as long as it goes with my L-words list, it’s still good to work on that. My bucket list item – learn to tap – that’s come true! And now I’m following an advanced class on YouTube and learning more. Stay on your toes, I say. And your heels. 🙂
I still love the idea of a bucket list too — and whatever kind of list you’re talking about, it serves as a kind of magnet, pulling you towards the accomplishment of that particular goal, event, or travel spot. You have inspired many of us with your dedication to learning how to tap dance. There are always interests and activities to pursue!
How lovely, Elizabeth. Like you, I don’t have any big item that I need to put in a bucket to make me feel fulfilled. How I love the Annie Dillard quote. I meditated on gratitude and abundance first thing this morning. Because most important: that we each realize how grateful we are for the abundance in our lives: family, love, laughter, bird song (first thing I heard this morning!), the giggles of grandkids and their sweet tight hugs (and their kisses SMACK on the lips, which assures me that I’ll get their sniffly cold – ha), writing, reading, walking, sharing with friends. Meeting new friends, like you. xo
Ahhhh, what a lovely way to wake up, Pam! Yes, the older I get, the more I understand how powerful it is to be grateful, even when things aren’t going so well. And the abundance mentality…wow, it is the cure for so many ills. I am so grateful for you too!
You got me this time, Elizabeth. Maybe I’ve been going at this all wrong. I really need to give this some thought. Maybe we can discuss it over lunch, since I’m going to be in the area for the first half of next month. I hope to see you then.
I’d love to do that, Esther! Yes, I was surprised at my own response to this and how right it felt for me and my own personality. I don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with having a bucket list, however. I’ve long subscribed to the adage that you can’t get where you want to go if you don’t have a map, and a bucket list is, in a way, a map to tug you to those things or places you’ve got written on the list. We’re all different and we’re all motivated and inspired by different things. Vive la différence!