Kickin' the Bucket (List)

Earlier this week I went trapeze flying. Yes, you read that right. I, Rum Punch and all 200+ pounds of me went trapeze flying. I saw it on a television show and I thought it looked cool. And so I was bound and determined to try it. Well I did. And it wasn’t cool at all. It was painful and I used muscles I didn’t even know existed. But it was kinda fun all at the same time. And my friend who I dragged with me said, “Well we can cross this off our bucket list.” Indeed.

While I’m not the kind of person who ever made an actual list of things to do before I die, there are times when I’ve done things that were fun, cool, maybe dangerous, and exciting. And once I sat back and reflected, I acknowledged how glad I was to have had the experience and if it never came around again, I could live with that. Trapeze flying is now one of those things. But for the past few days I have been twirling the idea of having a bucket list in my mind.

There are some people who will probably never do half the things they want to do in life because of fear, or little motivation, or just plain lack of opportunity. There are other people who really live in the moment and are willing to try new things on a whim. I waitresed with a girl who would work hard for like three months, then take her tip money and travel to some foreign land. “How long are you going to be there,” I’d ask. “Don’t know,” she’d say. “Where are you going to stay,” I’d ask. “I’ve found a few places,” she’d say. “What are you going to do there,” I’d ask. “Don’t know,’ she’d say. Oh how the Type A in me envied her. Whatchu mean you ain't got no plan?

And then there are the people who make actual bucket lists. I met a woman in the hairdresser like that. And one by one, surely but slowly she was crossing things off her list. I found this quite intriguing in a ‘which came first the chicken or the egg’ type way. Did making the list prompt her to start completing everything or did she have a desire to try new things and knew she would never do them if she didn’t make a list? I wonder…

I know that I probably wouldn’t have sought out trapeze flying if I hadn’t:

a. Seen that particular episode

b. Thought about how cool it was and wondered if I could do something like that in my city and then

c. gotten an email literally the next day about trapeze flying in a city 40 minutes away. Divine intervention, I thought. And then came

d. The follow through.

That’s the hardest part, ain’t it? Because often times the things on your bucket list are the things that take you out of your comfort zone. So I think first you have to be open and willing to try new experiences and then you have to be ready to pursue them. So because sharing is caring, here are some things that I want to do before I die. However, I prefer to look at it as experiences that should/might/hopefully will enhance me as a person and my life as a whole. Here they go:

1. Go on a safari
2. See the pyramids
3. Go to Cuba before Castro dies (Hang in there Fidel! I'm counting my pennies and devising a plan now)
4. Go sky diving
5. Go scuba diving
6. Get married. Heh, heh, heh…
7. See the polar bears
8. Start a magazine
9. Get my Alex Haley on and trace my ancestry
10. Drive cross country a la Oprah and Gail (But this is contingent on those damn gas prices coming down!)

Anyway. Those are some of mine. I suppose I should get to getting because this is just the tip of the iceburg... What are some of yours?

That’s my time y’all! Happy Rum Punch Friday!