Do you have a bucket list?

A lot of people have a bucket list.

Some people have their bucket list written down, and some just have one in the back of their heads. And some people just have one big thing on their bucket list.

What's on your bucket list?

Take a look at your bucket list and ask yourself this one question about each item on your list:

Would you still want to do this if you could never tell anyone that you did it?

In other words, is this something you would really enjoy seeing or doing, or is it something you want to do so you can say you did it?

If you're honest with yourself, there are probably items on your bucket list that fit into each category.

Maybe you want to visit every state or every National Park. A lot of RVers have both of these things listed on their bucket list. (I've been to 47 of the 50 states. I've never been to ND, SD, or NE.)

Consider this

If visiting all 50 states is one of the things that's on your bucket list, do you really want to see and experience the scenery, the food, the culture, and the people in each state, or do you just want to be able to say that you've done it?

Here's example

Years ago, one night it was pouring down rain, and I was looking for a place to spend the night. I got lost, and I remember seeing a sign that said, "Welcome to Maine." That wasn't where I wanted to go that night, so I immediately turned around.

Does that qualify as visiting Maine? Technically, it does. I was in the state for at least five minutes. It was pitch-black and pouring down rain. I didn't see anything, but I was there.

Here's another example

Two weeks after I turned 60, I ran a marathon. I did it because I wanted to say that I had done it. I had trained for it, but not enough, and during the last half of the marathon, I was running directly into a 30 mph headwind.

Needless to say, that race kicked my butt. I ran that race because I wanted to say that I had run a marathon after I turned 60. It wasn't because I enjoyed running the race. I've run a lot of half-marathons since then and enjoyed running them. If I had trained longer and been ready to run a marathon, maybe I would have enjoyed running that race.

I ran a race one time in February called the Frostbite 5K. It actually snowed on me during the race. That was a fun race with a lot of camaraderie.

Bottom line: Do you have a bucket list? If you do, are the things on your list things you want to do, see, and experience, or are they things you want to do so you can say, "I've been there and done that." You'll likely find some of both things on your list, and that's okay.