Say NO to the Bucket List

Quite often, I hear people talk about adding trips and experiences to their bucket lists. I may be an oddity, but bucket lists have always made me cringe and they seem so morbid. The term is relatively new and it was made famous by the 2007 film, the Bucket List. Typically, a bucket list describes travel and experiences that someone wants to enjoy before they kick the bucket.

I propose to just say NO to the bucket list. Instead, have a life list, a goal list, but never a list that’s origins derive from kicking the bucket.  

Do what interests you NOW. It might just change your life.

Although I am talking about travel, saying NO to the bucket list can apply to anything… going back to school, trying a new recipe… I believe this is a general life view. Placing something on a list for later means that there is a good chance that it may never happen. You may not be able to take that dream trip to Hawaii at this moment or head back to school for a degree, but you can begin planning by setting goals.

I am a little bit of a risk-taker, and recently I went virtual with my job because Sean and I have a goal to travel full time. My job switch was the first step in our plan. Sean will go virtual next. Life is too precious to keep wishing that one day we can travel full time. We knew this is what we wanted, and we know that it takes a little risk.

Sometimes our goals are painful and can be a little scary. Lucy and I were watching a movie yesterday and the premise was… fear might not go away, sometimes you just have to do it afraid. The key is that I refuse to spend my life wanting; at some point, I have to start doing.

Here are my top thirteen favorite quotes that I think about when giving a big NO to the bucket list.

1. Your life is made of two dates and a dash. Make the most of the dash. – Linda Ellis

2. The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.  –  Eleanor Roosevelt

3. Take every chance in life because some things only happen once. – Karen Gibbs

4. “What day is it?” asked Pooh.  “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day,” said Pooh.” –  A.A. Milne

5. Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. – Ibn Battuta

6. Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. – Ray Bradbury

7. You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another island. There is no other land; there is no other life but this. – Henry David Thoreau

8. Not all those who wander are lost. – J.R.R. Tolkien

9. Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination. – Roy M. Goodman

10. And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later. –Randy Komisar

11. A ship in a harbor is safe, but it not what ships are built for. – John A. Shedd

12. We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. – Anonymous 

13. Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show. –Unknown

Travel is something that I want to savor, not something that I want to put on a list and hope to do before I leave this world. Maybe you have a childhood dream that you have never explored, maybe you are sick and tired of being sick and tired at your job, or maybe you have found yourself at a place in your life that you never wanted or expected. Set goals, make plans, savor each moment… and say NO to the bucket list!

Do you have a goal or dream that you want to make happen? We would love to hear from you. Please drop us a line in the comment section below!

Interested in other great quotes? Check out 20 Quotes That Will Make Your Day Better and Lucy’s 31 Back to School Quotes!