I have a confession… I just entered the Biggest Baddest Bucket List Contest, and I don’t even have a bucket list.

 

Well, I have never recorded an official bucket list.  Here’s why:

1. 1. I do what I want when I want; I mean, when I can.  (I’m not that cool.)  In a way, it’s not unlike New Year’s resolutions for me.  Resolutions are really motivational for some people, but they can also put others under a lot of pressure.  When I’m under pressure to do something, I might resist doing it.  This is partly why resolutions just don’t resonate with me.  But more importantly, resolutions don’t resonate with me because I generally live my life the way I want– year-round.  If there is something I want to change, I usually obsess over it until it gets resolved.  It might be slow going, but it gets done.  I could say the same happens with goals on my unwritten bucket list.  If I want to do it, I do it.
      

      Ziplining in Costa Rica

   2. I’m a bit of a control freak.  Aw, come on, don’t give me that look.  I know you’re a control freak too.  Being the planner that I am, it’s nice to have a part of my life that isn’t all mapped out.  I often make lists to get things done, but in this case the fun is in realizing the potential of the surprises that might occur.  I mean, years ago I knew I was going to visit Israel, but I never thought I’d be able to experience camping out on the top of Mount Sinai to catch a sunrise.  Or I always thought it would be cool to have more than one career, but I never understood the feasibility of it or the journey that my career change would hold for me.  And when I started blogging, the thought of having a photo published in National Geographic Traveler magazine was incomprehensible.  I never would have been able to dream up many of the experiences that have come my way.
      

      Fish tacos in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

1. Which leads me to my Reverse Bucket List. What’s that, you ask?  Well, it’s the list I make after I’ve accomplished something that is bucket list-worthy.  This isn’t a formally written list either, but I take the time to celebrate my achievement and mentally check it off my unofficial bucket list.  It’s very rewarding!  It fosters an attitude of gratitude that I might otherwise take for granted.  As I’ve pointed out in the past, this attitude of gratitude has a way of snowballing.
   

   Rappelling in Israel

   I’ve always viewed bucket list items as the most far-fetched, outrageous things one could possibly do, so I figure… why limit myself to only those things I can imagine?  Plus, my reverse bucket list allows me to celebrate the things I would never conjure up in this life.  Though you’ll probably never catch me making and breaking any New Year’s Resolutions, it’s time to start writing the bucket list down.  I’m ready, but I have one condition.  I’ll have to keep it very vague because my imagination can’t compete with the wonderful surprises this world has to offer.

   

   La Alhambra, Grenada, Spain

   So tell me, what is on your bucket list?
   

Music used in video in order of appearance: Barry Manilow.  Yep, that’s right.  I said Barry Manilow.  Jason Mraz.  One Republic.  Beck.