Bucket Lists...

Most of us have seen The Bucket List by now and understand the concept. Two ill guys challenge each other to complete their list of "must-have" experiences before they die. I liked the movie but never really loved the concept. Really? Turning your life into a list of things to do? What gets put on, what doesn't? What counts? Is our life the sum total of the hydrants we manage to pee on?

Don't get me wrong, I think that setting goals and achieving them can give structure and a sense of meaning to our lives. We are designed for forward motion, for making things happen, getting things done. It's healthy and good to delay gratification in order to make bigger, more dramatic things happen. Heck, I'm a coach, I help people do that stuff all the time.

It's just that I've taken the bucket list idea in two new directions. First, I started reporting each new cancer experience to my son as "one more for the bucket list"' to make him laugh, which worked, to make me laugh, which also worked, and to experience the surge of empowerment black humor gives when we seem to have lost control of all else. My bucket list now has checks next to things like "MRI Biopsy" and "shop for wigs and headscarves"! I figure, it's sometimes more efficient to regard the things life sends you as adventures, than to put out the time and money to have real ones!

Which brings me to my second new spin on the concept. Rather than create and follow a list of specific goals, my aim is to turn my entire life into a peak experience by simply being there when it happens. By there, I mean fully present in the moment I am living, awake to and aware of what is happening without the endless distraction of my analytical mind commenting, projecting into to the future, worrying about the past. A kind of zen bucket list made up of many tiny moments of awareness and perfection. NB: I have managed to sustain this state almost never at this point! That's why it's a bucket list!

Enjoy your day and, since many of you have asked, PLEASE share this blog with anyone on the planet whom you think it might interest or help. Going viral is the best revenge!

Much Love, Colleen