Some people refer to these as a "Bucket List"- the things you want to do before you die. I choose to think of this as a "Life List"- the things you do while you live.
Become a teacher
Get Married
Be a great dad
Visit all 50 states
Visit all 7 continents
Dartboard trip/random airplane
Save somebody’s life
Hang gliding
Drive a dodge viper
Be a contestant on a game show
Go on a helicopter ride
Watch a meteor shower
See the northern lights
Watch a singer record a song
Watch a movie being filmed
Attend the Olympics
Attend a Super Bowl
Attend a World Cup game
Be at the finish line of the Tour De France
Catch a ball at a baseball game
Attend a pow-wow
Write a song
Read the Bible
Visit the Taj Mahal
Own a monkey
Attend an award show
Be an extra in a film
Ride a camel in the desert
Climb Mount Kilimanjaro
Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
Fly in a fighter jet
Learn to fly a plane
Be in Outer Space
Sponsor a child… then meet him
Gamble a paycheck
Watch sea turtles hatch
Milk a cow with bare hands
Do a flip
Act in a play
Dance with Ellen
Publish a photo
Perform at an open mic night
See the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform live
Take batting practice in a Major League stadium
Take batting practice in a Major League stadium
Go to a baseball game at Wrigley Field
Learn “The Way It Is” on piano
Meet Lizzie Velasquez
See Orcas in the wild
Be a motivational speaker
Run a Relay race
Complete the runDisney Coast to Coast Challenge
Do a TED Talk
Meet Lizzie Velasquez
See Orcas in the wild
Be a motivational speaker
Run a Relay race
Complete the runDisney Coast to Coast Challenge
Do a TED Talk
Alabama
Alaska
Arkansas
Louisiana
West Virginia
South America
Australia
Antarctica
Life List- How it began…
Late 2002/early 2003 (Age 17/18)- I started writing a list of things that I wanted to do in my life. Goals I wanted to accomplish. Dreams I had.
Throughout high school, I struggled with depression. I had hit rock bottom, and I wasn’t sure if I would make it. As I started to get my life back on track, I had so many feelings of hope. For the first time, I was eager to LIVE.
2005ish, I started to type the list- Keep it saved. Keep editing. Keep changing. Made sense.
Summer 2007 (Age 22), I started a separate list- I started reminiscing about some of the trips I had been on. Went through old pictures. Read old letters and notes. I realized more and more that I had done some pretty cool things in my life. I made a list of some of the things I had accomplished- not for anyone to see, but so I could remember all the amazing things I had done. So I wouldn’t take my life for granted.
In 2008 (Age 23) both of my lists were lengthy. So many great things that I wanted to accomplish. A never-ending goal to have moments that I will remember forever. Make me see. Make me feel. Touch my heart and soul. On the other side, I had come up with 100 things that I had done up to that point of my life. Little blurbs of the moments that got me through life.
Now I sit here in November 2010 (Age 25). The list has been growing- many things have been crossed off. I started thinking about format. I realized that my list never ends- I add things as often as I cross them off. So here’s what I imagine for the future. Have a list. Do life. Cross things off. Add more things. But from that, I can have “mini lists”- things I want to do before 30, things I want to do in 2011, etc.
Why “life list?”
Over the first several years that this list existed, I was unaware that these lists had names. Most commonly, as a result of the movie, these lists are called “Bucket Lists”- as in things you want to do before you kick the bucket. Things you want to do before you die. I use this name sometimes, but I think this is a pessimistic point of view. Instead, I simply like to think of this list as the things I want to do WHILE I LIVE.
What’s the difference? It may be small, but if you think of things that you have to do before you die, then it’s things that you have to squeeze in. Abnormal things that you have to find time for. If you look at it as a life list, you are taking a more proactive approach, saying that “this is the way I choose to live my life.” All of these moments are just a part of the adventure.
When I first typed this list (roughly 2005), it had no name, no numbers, just a whole bunch of awesome things I wanted to do. The name of the file was and still is simply “LIFE.”
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