What’s on Your Bucket List? Any Chalk, a Plant, Crazy Glue, Birdseed?

Watching the grandchild learning a new word and then trying to put meaning to that word was an experience that left me wondering.  How fast our minds rationalize thoughts, and place information into neat little containers of knowledge, is a miracle in and of itself.  Have you ever thought about a thought? Explain a thought to a 6 year old. I dare you.  I double dare you.

Have you ever thought about a thought?

As we grow older being told something isn’t right, or learning we will have to do something differently isn’t generally what we want to hear. Change sucks.  I know many of us have gotten so busy that we just tend to do things all by ourselves.  Maybe someone else could of made a process easier for us, maybe not.  But we won’t know because letting go of a situation or work event isn’t something we are used to doing.  Let’s face it, our day planners are full.     We go a little zombie like,  and then we don’t know how to climb out of that mode.

Learning is a different process for everyone.  Some are just faster than a whip with everything they lay their hands on. Others like to take things one bite at a time.   You can’t force the unwilling to learn, and nobody wants to listen to the know it all's.    People need to be motivated to learn or change.  As I’ve aged, motivation I have
discovered is in short supply.   Those who once motivated me, now sound like a broken parrot “right”, “you know what  I mean”, “right”, “right”.  Ugh!

Age  changes  how you learn.  I find that I’m just not interested any longer in those ideas I thought were so cool in my younger days.  Those items that used to be on my  ole bucket list have  already been checked marked off.  Sure there are things I want to do – but not the things I wanted to do ten or twenty years ago.  My bucket list looks more like a shopping list for a leisurely day at the pool -rather than a vacation to some far away resort.  Although I would go to the resort if someone buy me a ticket.  Please buy me a ticket.  But then I regress.

I sat down with my grandchild to try to discover if I could see into the mind of a 6 year old and come up with an answer to my lack of motivation, and my empty bucket list.  What I forgot to notice until after she had gone home with her family was how much she motivated me just to want to stay in one place.  I like peace and quiet.  I was motivated to get back to that - the stillness of the day.  In our search for items to put on our bucket lists, don’t leave off peace and quiet.  Those really are motivating factors to help you gain a better perspective on life.

Bucket List Items that might not be on your list, but could be:

1. Fall in love again
2. Grow a plant and not kill it
3. Burn your day planner (you can burn your bra too – but by that age who cares)
4. Seek peace and rest
5. Read a book, heck read a couple book, a whole library of books
6. Save some time to draw stick figures on the concrete with a 6 year old
7. Say you are sorry to someone who would never see it coming
8. Be there when you say you will be – and watch someone’s eyes light up
9. Dream again
10. Sleep with no clothes or more clothes on – what ever you want
11. Don’t be afraid to ask questions – worst someone can say is no
12. And number twelve, volunteer. Give of yourself and your bucket will always be full

I am off to draw stick figures on the side walk.  We have to draw a full scale ranch with horses and cows.  Could take up to four or five concrete sections.

My bucket list is full