Have you seen this movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson? It is about two men who befriend each other when they are roommates in the hospital. They are complete opposites but decide they have a bucket list of things they want to see and do before they die. They leave the hospital against doctors orders to complete this list. It is a great movie so if you haven’t checked it out, put it on your list, but this isn’t the list we are here to talk about.
Do you have a bucket list? Do you have a list of places you want to travel to, things you want to see or do before you die? It sounds so dark when “before you die” is put on the end of that so let’s change that to “while you are living life.” What would you like to do while you are living life? I have been fortunate enough to knock off a couple of my items over that past couple years. I visited Greece. I traveled to South America. And the biggest one last January, I summited Mount Kilimanjaro. Each one of these trips has a special place in my heart, not just because I got to see these places, but because of what I learned about myself while I was there.
Two years ago, at this time, I was in Santorini, Greece. This island is breath taking. All of the buildings are a sharp white and most of the roof tops are blue. One of the most picturesque sunsets is at the edge of the island in Oia. I had heard about this view for years and was in awe I got to see it.
Two months ago, I traveled by myself down to Brazil and Argentina. I wrote about this before, but it deserves repeating. As much as I like to travel, traveling solo gives me anxiety!!! When my cousin had to cancel, this gave me the perfect opportunity to prove to myself that it was worth going by myself and that everything would be ok if I was by myself and I could do it. And then there is Kilimanjaro. WOW!
This trip gave me more than I could have ever expected. I had friends who wanted to do this trip but no one could commit so I just said screw it and signed up! Why did I need to wait for someone else to help me complete an item on my bucket list? In January of 2019 I summited the highest free standing mountain in the world.
Last Thursday, I decided it was time to cross off another item of my bucket list. I have several physical issues that have caused me not to be able to run like I want to. I have had 4 knee surgeries and a back surgery. Now my back is bone on bone in the L5/S1 joint where I had the surgery. Not ideal for running. I’m not getting any younger and my back would all of the sudden rejuvenate a disc (Although that would be amazing if it did!!!) The word marathon scares the heck out of me, yet also intrigues me, and it had been coming up quite often in the last 2 weeks. My good friend Jessah just rocked the Chicago marathon. One of my guides from Kilimanjaro is going to run a half marathon in the Serengeti as part of a fundraiser for clean water for the Masai tribe. A destination marathon started sounding like something I’d be interested in.
On Thursday I was reading over an email from our company, Juice Plus+, and it mentioned the St Jude’s marathon. Juice Plus+ is the name sponsor for this race and it is a fundraiser for the hospital. If you don’t know much about St Jude’s, this is a children’s hospital where the children and families do not have to pay a dime to receive care. Such an amazing cause. I ran the half marathon in 2015 and usually there is no space available to run this late in the year, but I checked anyway. And there was space. Again, I said screw it and signed up!! Oh, did I mention the race is December 7, just 6 weeks away? I have always wanted to run a marathon. It is for an AMAZING cause. And again, I’m not getting any younger! So why not? I know it is a little crazy. As one of my friends said, maybe bat shit crazy. You can help me on this bat shit crazy idea by donating on the link below! Anything helps for the kids!! https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=3692119&pg=personal&fr_id=105980
I am challenging you today to make a bucket list if you do not have one already. Put all your wishes on there! No matter how simple or extravagant. Put it on there. Once you finish it, look and see what is on there that you can do by the end of 2019? We are closing out this decade so why not end it with a bang! Once you identify something you can do, put it out there to people! Share it on social media. You will be surprised at how sharing it with people on social media holds you accountable. You can also share below in the comments section. I would love to hear what you want to do in these next 65 days of 2019! Now go make your list!!
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