Friday, December 7, 2012

Bucket List





Anyone who has ever had a near death experience always comes out of it valuing life a lot more. I was recently involved in a car crash, and though I came out physically unscathed, I passed out and only came to after several hours - thank God. The little things in life now matter to me much more than before. 

I had previously never thought of a bucket list. That’s far too morbid for someone in my age gap. However, the day after my car crash, I decided to make a small list of things within my immediate reach that I had always wanted to do, but postponed out of either laziness or lack of commitment. Some of them are really easy things. Here goes in no particular order:

1.    Spend more time with my son – he’s 2 yrs old now
2.    Take my wife out to a new place every month
3.    Visit everyone I know who had a new baby
4.    Write more
5.    Spend less of my dedicated vacation time doing work for my employers
6.    Use my gym membership and join my local biking club
7.    Get closer to God and pray with my family every night
8.    Read all the books in my personal library
9.    Fix my study – it’s in a mess right now
10. Execute my retirement plan
11. Drive the Garden Route with my family

I have come to find out that not all of them are as easy as I originally thought. My study is still less than 20% cleared and I still have not taken my wife to “a new place”. I guess the refrain here is that even little things sometimes are difficult to accomplish and may need more time than you thought. So start now. Not all of us would have the resources and dedicated time Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman had in the 2007 movie with the same title as this post. 

While religion teaches us that we are just passing through this world to an eternal place of rest and happiness, it also teaches us that we are here for a reason. As you toil and scrape in trying to eke out a living, you need to take some time to ponder what else you should be doing and what resources or opportunities you are letting go to waste. You need to be happy in this world too. Are you the “too religious” type? Ok, pretend the happiness is practice for the hereafter.

Life was meant to be lived simply. Serve your God, love your neighbor and take care of yourself.

I watched a Ted Talks recently titled “Before I die”. The ease with which folks expressed their one wish just touched me. Makes you really wonder why you are living such a complicated life. How do you feel knowing that you have probably accomplished the one thing that someone else calls that thing they would like to do before they die? Someone actually listed buying a Mac Book as theirs, and another just wanted to plant a tree…


This blog post was not meant to make you depressed but to encourage you to live life more fully and value the little things.

So what are the short to long term stuff in your bucket list? Please share with us by posting a comment here.
SAN


1 comment:

  1. I notice that your bucket list starts with a focus on your family and then goes on to what you will do for yourself as an individual. Love the way you have put them first.

    Recently, I have found myself scribbling furiously on notepad after notepad what I want my life to be. A Road Map so to say as well as what actions should follow when I reach each milestone. I feel that by writing it down, I can see it better in my mind's eye and once it is there, it will come to fruition easier. You have just inspired me to consolidate it into a formal list. Thank you.

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