I don’t have a Life List.
I had a 40 x 40 list once. I think I created it a few months before my 40th birthday. And it wasn’t really even a 40 x 40. It was more like a 30 x 40 list. I’m still not sure what made me put some of the to-do’s on that list. I felt like I had to come up with 40 things, and it’s not that I don’t have a million things in my head that I want to do some day, but when it came down to writing up 40 actually things, I couldn’t.
I used to do a Five Year Plan. I usually lost the sheet of paper I had written it on in some random move that was not in my Five Year Plan. I started to think that I was jinxing myself, so I stopped making plans so far out. I was happy with six months out. Even that seemed too risky of a test of fate, but I needed to be able to answer questions from well-meaning friends and family.
Note: “Well-meaning” is code for “Nosy” and “Controlling”.
No, I don’t have a list. And if I did, I wouldn’t call it a Bucket List. Bucket seems doomed from the start. If I had a list, it would definitely be called a Life List. But then again… that doesn’t really say ACTION, does it? Hmmm… Maybe I should create a LIVE list.
Why all this talk of lists? Because amazing things just keep happening to me and people keep asking, “Is that on your Bucket List?” And I want to tell them that A) I think “Bucket List” is too depressing, B) stop quoting movies, and C) although I’ve always thought about doing that thing, I never got around to listing it anywhere.
I’m not a list person. I’m more of a sticky person. I write things on stickies and when they get done, I crumple up the sticky. Sometimes, I just write stuff on a sheet of paper and then lose it. Other times, I write those things down in a pretty new journal that I fill up and put away and forget where I put it, and so, forget about the thing that I wanted to do. That’s not a very efficient way to track dreams, is it?
But here’s the thing… and this goes back to the 40 x 40 list… sometimes, I change my mind!
So what if I create this super cool amazing Life List and then a year goes by and I look at it and think, Well, I don’t really want to do that now. I’ll have this moral argument with myself about why I shouldn’t be a quitter. Part of me is yelling, You can’t quit! Then another voice in my head will say, You’re not a quitter, you’ve just matured and you now know you don’t need to do that. To which the original voice will reply, Spoken like a true quitter.
Uggg… I’m getting a headache.
But then the quiet little voice in the corner says, But if you don’t write it down or say it out loud, it won’t happen.
She’s right. I should create that list.
Now where did I put my stickies…
Too funny, it’s like we share a brain or something! I’ve toyed with the bucket/life/live list for awhile now. I’m a year and a half from turning 40, so the “by 40″ type of list has kind of been on my mind, too. I did start a list, of sorts (it’s a Pinterest pin board), of foods that I want to attempt to make. I guess that’s a start. And since it’s back to school shopping time (well, at least it is for Nashville), I’m thinking a nice pack of post-it notes, all for me, needs to be on that particular list!
@justmalia I like the Pinterest board idea. Like a vision board, I suppose. I might have to create a Live the Sweet Life board.
I love stickies for more than to-do’s. Here’s a tip: write nice things to yourself (Ex: “You look lovely today, Malia!”) and post them all over the house or car or office, you’ll get these random jolts of happiness.
Twitter: copilotmom
says:
Must be something about turning 40 because I, too, have been thinking about lists. (I am a notebook list person – I would lose my stickies.) I turned 40 a few weeks ago, and have been thinking it since then. I like your reasoning behind the Live List – sounds much more positive than a “bucket” list!
Great post Sugar! I just wrote a 40 before 40 list, I just turned 35 and I figured I needed to write down the things that have been floating around in my head that I want to do but that I often forget about or time just passes and I don’t do them. I love that you call it a live list.
I have been using Sticky notes for many years. I love writing down one thing that I have to do and then wadding it up into a ball when I’m done. Now that the balls can be recycled, I have less guilt about what I’m doing to the environment while I’m tackling tasks.
Also, like you, I have many journals started but rarely revisited. I figure my journal is my WordPress site combined with my Facebook postings, my tweets, and emails. Between all those, there’s a more complete picture.