So why is it important to me that the postcard is on the fridge? It’s seen every day. Maybe not seen and consciously recognised, as it would eventually become so familiar that it would blend into the background. But it’s there. It’s a motivating trigger.
It’s a little sign that says ‘Hey! There’s a big world out there. Go look at it…’ and that’s what I’m hoping happens.
Years ago I read a story about a mother who brought up three sons as a single parent. She watched all of them go to work on carrier ships and in the navy. All were linked to some kind of marine employment.
One day she was at home with her youngest son and she asked him why he followed his two older brothers into working at sea.
‘Every meal we had at this table I sat looking at that picture on the wall of the old Clipper.’ he said pointing up to it. The power of something as subtle as a picture of a ship on a kitchen wall can influence a person’s decisions. So therein lies the intent of the postcards.
Why Living The Bucket List though? Isn’t a bucket list is something you make when you’re about to die?
Well there is that connection, but I’m motivated to the living side of things rather than dying. Why wait until there is a looming end date? Why choose to live a richer life with the impending finality bobbing around out on the perceivable horizon?
It’s a bit shitty really in my opinion.
My last trip was a pretty generous one where I travelled through China, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand and Myanmar. It was one where there was a lot of hiking and physically demanding travel. Going to Tibet sounds adventurous in itself right?
When you consider the implications of being between two thousand and six thousand meters above sea level, the thought of altitude sickness and the health implications were something that I didn’t want to deal with in my sixties.
My manager at the mine where I was working at was hesitant to give me the time off work. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s a long time to be away.” he said, “This is the sort of trip I’d save for when I’m retired.”
I couldn’t think of anything worse! Wait until I’m retired to live my life? Wait until I’m potentially not physically able to enjoy the things that excite me now and miss out on them because someone else has the idea that you should do this when you retire?
Yeah, right… So live your bucket list! Know what it is that you want to do. If you don’t know what it is that you want to do then that’s fine, I’m still adding to my bucket list today. There no reason why you can’t do the same.
It all begins with the desire and the want which leads inevitably to finding the way to implement.
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