The Bucket List – Plan it

  So you have decided to do one item off your Bucket List.  Great, this is when the fun begins.

A great way to plan it is to imagine your perfect Bucket List item.  What do you need for your item to be perfect?  Where would it be? Who would be with you?  When would you do it? If it is appropriate, what would the food be?  Imagine every detail about your Bucket List item.

In another blog post I mentioned wanting to go to Door County, Wisconsin.  For it to be perfect for me; I wanted to rent a cottage by the water and in a town with a quilt shop I could visit.  At that time, this was the village of Sister Bay, Wisconsin. 

Now when do you want to do your item?  People work better if they have a deadline.  Deadlines help with plans.  You need deadlines to make any arrangements, secure any reservations, etc.. Remember none of these plans are set in stone.  You can change anything and everything.  

The next step is to get support.  This was most important to me. Tell people about your Bucket List item.  They may be able to help with ideas, with contacts, with finances and most important, enthusiasm.  People want others to succeed and you will be surprised how excited they will be for your Bucket List.

For me my support group helped me with raising money for my trip.  At the time I was working at a quilt shop that did machine quilting.  Many people brought me quilts to do and asked that the money go to my trip. When I could, I honored their request.  Two friends in Wisconsin were my chauffer and tour guide since they had both lived in Door County.  And many friends gave me ideas.  Since I was renting a cottage, I had to bring my own sheets.  The bed in the cottage was king size.  Since I only had a full size bed, friends lent me sheets to take.

No matter what your Bucket item is, you will probably need money for it.  So how much do you need.  Is travel and lodging involved?  Do you need lessons for your item?  Do you need ingredients or supplies?  Remember to think outside the box.  What else are you going to need? 

For me, I would be traveling during a time I usually taught a summer session at the college. So I not only needed money for travel, lodging, food, and souvenirs but I needed money to pay the bills since I was losing the teaching income while taking this trip.  Will that be a similar situation for you? 

What else do you need to complete your bucket item?  If you are going to skydive, do you need lessons?  If your item is running a marathon, how do you start your training?

If you want to try a new recipe, where do you get your ingredients?  Make sure you set this in motion.  The earlier you prepare for your item, the better your item will be.

All these things will help your bucket item become the perfect one you imagine.  And as you plan out your Bucket List adventure, you are actually making the item become a reality.  Part of the fun is in the planning.

Now get on with your Bucketing.

 

©2017, 2024 – Cheryl Fillion    

The Bucket List - Don't Wait

 How many of you have a bucket list?  If you have a list, have you done any of them?  You hear of people who when they find they have a terminal disease start to do some of the seemingly crazy things they have always wanted to do.

But why wait until you have been diagnosed with a disease or after you have retired. Why not start doing some of your bucket list now.

Now you may think that a bucket list is for the end of your life.  Oh really, who says so?  You van enjoy the items off your list at any time.   Yeah like right now. 

Let’s say you want to travel somewhere but you know it will be years before you can do it.  Why wait?  One item on my list was to spend time in a resort area of my home state of Wisconsin called Door County.  It was going to take me a while to save the money to take the trip but I didn’t want to wait to enjoy it.  

So I got on the internet and looked up things to do in Door County.  Of course I had to make sure there was a quilt shop there.  I found a webcam in a couple of the towns and watched them for months on end.  I learned about events and the weather and the busy times.  Doing this helped me keep my enthusiasm up while I saved up the money. 

You can do the same thing for whatever you want to do.  Find websites about your bucket list item.  Read books about it.  Find people who might have gone or done what you are planning.  They may have great tips on what to and not to do.

You can actually start enjoying your Bucket list item before you actually do your bucket list item. Don’t wait until the end of your life.

 

© 2016,  2024  Cheryl Fillion

 

 

The Bucket List

 How many of you have a bucket list?  You know that list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. If you have a list, that’s great. Start doing some of the things on your list.  If you don’t have a list, what is it you want to do in your life before you die?

You hear of many people who go sky diving or bungee jumping.  But what if that is not your style, what do you want to do?  Do you want to travel?  See the Grand Canyon? The Eiffel Tower?  Do you want to learn something new?  Not all of your bucket list needs to be WILD adventures; some can be MILD adventures like learning to bake bread.

I didn’t call my list a bucket list.  It was known more as a “Some day I’d like to” list.  And not everything on my list is an adventure or even expensive.  I want to learn to bake bread.  I’d really like to finish all the quilts I have started (and maybe some quilts I am thinking of starting).  I would love to read all the books I presently own. And yeah, I would love to travel.

Maybe as a New Year’s Resolution, you could start planning your bucket list. Think of the things you would like to do in your life.  One might be going to New York City for New Year’s Eve.   What is it you would like to learn?  A new language, a new art style, a new craft?  What is it you want  to do?

As I mentioned before, where would you like to travel?  It doesn’t have to be to another country.  Have you seen everything to see in your city?  Have you participated in some local event you have always been interested in?  The college where I work does the Nutcracker Ballet every December.  I love that ballet but in the 28 years I have worked there, I had only gone once until this year.  I had so much fun I think now it will be an annual event. 

If you can’t think of anything for your list, ask family and friends what you might have mentioned to them about wanting to do.  You might not remember but they will.  Or think back to what you liked to do as a child.  Did you sing into a hairbrush?  How about taking singing lessons or join a choir?  Did you wear out box after box of crayons but never took art lessons?  Take some art lessons.  Your local college might offer continuing education classes or a craft store might have a class or two.  Do you like the symphony; buy a ticket.

Your bucket list doesn’t have to be a stable list.  You can change the items as you go through life.  You can add or subtract things as your interests change.   But do make a list.  It is a great way to make sure your life is enjoyable and has meaning. And if you are like me, you will be able to make a great loaf of bread.

 

© 2016, 2024  Cheryl Fillion