Grade 2. Mrs. Burzinski. Music class. Remember the song?
There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.
Ah yes, so many stories out of so few words. Why the heck can’t I have just one thought process at a time?! Which story shall I pick? The ‘tell someone who cares’ story? How about, “If you identify a problem, identify a solution.” One of my all time favourite attitudes (not), “It’s not my problem.”
Observe from a different angle. How about, “Liza, I’m telling you about the hole because I know you care and will help me find a solution.” Or if Liza was feeling supportive and respectful, “Henry, you’re a strong, smart man and I know you are fully capable of fixing the bucket.”
We all have holes of some description in our buckets…and there are myriad ways to go about fixing those holes…but what’s really on my mind is my bucket LIST (and the holes in it). How did I end up analyzing a song I learned in Grade 2?
I posted on Twitter recently that one hole in my bucket is for my kids to see the Northern Lights. I’ve experienced their splendour and majesty many times throughout my life, leaving me awestruck each and every time, but none of my children have been so privileged. How do I fix this hole? As one friend suggested, take them to the Yukon to see ‘the good stuff’. Now there’s a road trip! I wish there were some kind of guarantee on seeing The Lights.
One bucket list item I have been able to check off is white water rafting. A few years ago I made it widely known that I wanted to go rafting before I die (after a hefty health scare). The same friend who suggested the Yukon road trip got right on it and organized a white water rafting trip for 6 of us. She was instrumental in helping get it crossed off my list, and in ensuring it was a weekend worth remembering. We’ve now enjoyed 4 annual white water adventures and she’s even gone on to raft in Costa Rica! I’m not jealous. At all.
Other bucket list items? Swim with dolphins, meet some of my Superhero game buddies, travel Costa Rica/Fiji/Australia, learn how to snowboard – properly, own a couple of snowmobiles, watch my kids live their dreams and not settle, learn to live my own dreams and not settle…and help others see their bucket lists completed!
I’d love to hear about the holes in your bucket list that you’ve been able to fix – or cross off, along with the holes you have yet to fill. Just the sharing of them sometimes spurs on the doing….
How did the term ‘bucket list’ come about anyway? Done now.
Food for Thought:
“History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” ~ Winston Churchill
One of the holes in my bucket list is completing one of my creative ideas and seeing it succeed. This means that I would see it completed and that it would create financial reward as well. Over the past several years I have done some of the things I thought that I may never do like flying in a helicopter around the Statue of Liberty and traveling to places like New York, England, Germany. It wasn’t on my bucket list but I too have seen the northern lights and they were so spectacular that I didn’t really know what was going on in the sky, the night I happened to wake up to get a drink of water (which I seldom have every done in my life).
I think that God just wanted to show me something beautiful and amazing. It was on His list, for me, is how I like to think of it.
I’ll never forget that night and I’ve never seen anything like them since.
Hmmm I think there are a couple of new things on my list now that I’ve read your comment!
Love it! I’ve never seen the Northern Lights either. Someday. Bucket lists sort of stress me out. Too much pressure, so little time 🙂 I’m happy with my life as it currently stands, even the ugly bits. I have my children, my husband, my parents, my friends, even my silly dog. Take any of those out the equation and there would be a hole….in my heart. If my world keeps revolving with those people in it then I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing. There are many things I would like to do someday but if it happens/doesn’t happen….I’m totally fine with it. Thanks for writing Shandra. Great blog. BTW – Swimming with the dolphins? Magic. 🙂
Oh Candace, you always make me think. I want your silly dog too, forgot to put that on my list haha! Soft-coated Wheaton right? Yes, we definitely need to be content where we’re at, and I cannot imagine life without the people I love either. Even you have added a dimension that I’m grateful to have experienced ;).