Living the Dream: Is Your Bucket List a Wish List or an Action List? by Sheri B Doyle

I am often told I am "living the dream." People automatically assume I am doing something they never will: living a dream. For me it doesn’t seem that way. Yes, I am living my dreams, marking items off my bucket list, but it isn’t exclusive to me or “other people” – it can be you as well.

At first my bucket list was a wish list; a list of things I would do some day. Then one day my husband and I decided we didn’t want to wait for some day. We wanted to experience things on our bucket list now. In that moment our bucket list went from a wish list to an action list.

Instead of talking about some day we started looking at our lists and making plans on how to achieve what we could. Some of my bucket list items were cheap, learning to knit or learning a language. Then there were other items we could achieve without a lot of expense or time, like local events or activities. Then there are the big ones.

I categorized what I could achieve easily and what would take more planning. Then I set out to achieve both. We made plans, saved money, watched for best times to travel or found locations where we could have multiple experiences at one time. We talked to people about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go and asked for advice or suggestions. Slowly the items began to come off my list, and new items were added. 

My list has ceased to be wishes, and now are calls to actions – items requiring a plan to be realized. With each one I take off and each one I add, my life seems richer for having met a goal and found a new one.

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