Perhaps you’ve seen the movie The Bucket List. It tells the story of two terminally ill men (played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) who escape from the room they share in the cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a list of all the things they would like to do before they die (or before they “kick the bucket”). The things on the list range from great adventures to sincere reconciliation. In the process, both of them become unlikely friends, heal each other, and feel content with all they have achieved.
Or consider the real life story of 55-year-old John C. Hughes from Butte, Montana. Hughes is a man who is pursuing his bucket list with a vengeance. Hughes’ bucket story begins with him innocently following a police car for a few residential blocks. Then, without warning, he put the petal to the metal, flew by the officer, and headed for the highway. The officer who pursued after him said Hughes reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour before his vehicle was brought to a stop four miles down the highway. After his arrest, Hughes shared the reason he had risked his life was that he had “always wanted to be a part of a police chase.”
What’s on your list? I certainly hope you don’t have a terminal illness or that you are not planning on doing anything illegal, but we should all have a bucket list. None of us ever really know when we are going to “kick the bucket.” All we know is that we definitely will. No matter what age we are or how our physical state stands, maybe we should all be living as if we only have a short time to live. How would our lives differ if that were the case?
The question is not whether we should have a list but what should be on the list. So, what’s on your list?
Ryan Smallwood
.svg)