A List for Life
I love lists. I hate lists.
What I love about lists is there is a sense of accomplishment in completing them, or even in creating them for yourself to complete, or even for people to go through and evaluate.
What I hate about lists is that they are mostly subjective. Top 10 restaurants to try in X city. Top 100 things to experience before you die. Top 25 sports teams of all time.
A list is also an easy way to finish a conversation you don’t necessarily want to be in. Someone recommends a TV show, you reply I’ll put it on my list. Which you won’t do, plus it’s a way to end that part of the conversation. My wife just asked me how a chore was coming along. It’s on my list was my answer. That part is true, but it’s a mental list so she doesn’t know where said chore ranks in importance.
And then we have the Bucket List. The greatest list of all.
This is also subjective, but it’s deeply personal. What are the things YOU want to do before you die?
Every year since 2015 my friends Josh Suchon, Dan Hayes, and I get together in a new city to attend a college football game on Saturday and an NFL game on Sunday. Sometimes it’s referred to as the annual Bucket List trip because we’re ticking off new stadiums, teams, and mostly experiences. We tell the same stories, crack jokes about each other, we stay up too late, don’t sleep enough, travel from three different states, and are exhausted when the dust settles. But — well, at least for me — my heart is very full after spending time with close friends and taking in new experiences together, which adds to the enjoyment as well as to life’s tapestry.
This occurred this past weekend in a place we’ve been aiming to go to since we began this wild journey: New Orleans / Baton Rouge.
It also occurred around my birthday, a non-celebratory number for most, but also one that felt oddly significant to me.
I am officially on the back side of my 40’s.
I am certainly in the back half of my life, and over the past year — or so — I have really been evaluating that. Life, that is.
In taking stock of things, I’ve been incredibly fortunate. I’ve also made a lot of my own luck, which I guess comes with learning from mistakes … or nearly dying when I was 17 … or I’ve dictated the things I want to do, or don’t want to do, because I want the majority of my life decisions to be mine … or I’ve just been a lucky son of a gun.
Likely some combo of all of the above, and more, but let’s get to the point.
Through this evaluation, and the whole How do you want to be remembered? discussion — which, really this blog is ultimately a journal I will hand to my kids — it occurred to me I’ve done some pretty cool things.
And, so, I started making a list.
50 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 50.
It’s a work in progress, but it started because of some of the cool things I have already done. Some are things I want to do. Some will take more effort and sacrifices. The majority of them will be accomplishable.
Because, truly, who wants to fail at their own Bucket List?
Most parents want to be some form of role model for their kids. I am hoping that by living life to the fullest I can while checking off unique items inspires them to chase the sun as well.
If anything, it gives me an amazing book of tales to share, to continue and try to be the world’s best middle-of-the-table guest (that is, the person who can, and wants to, sit in the middle of a big table to listen and tell cool stories with others), and to seek new ways to explore the earth, and enjoy this adventure they call life.
Because you only get one spin on this rock, so might as well and try to enjoy it.
I’ll start sharing my list here over time, as it’s a work in progress.
But, aren’t we all?