What's in the Bucket?

In my Bucket by Kristy Butler 2013

We've all heard of  the Bucket List right?  For those who are not familiar with the term I will explain.  The Bucket List is a list of all the things you want to do before you "Kick the Bucket" as they say.  What do you want to do in the short amount of time you are here?  There are entire websites dedicated to helping people make this list.  BucketList.org for example gives ideas if you're feeling like your bucket is half empty.  You can also see how others reached their goals and get help with reaching your own.  Making your personal list is fun and so inspiring!

As someone in recovery, it has been helpful to look towards things I want to accomplish other than focusing on what I can't.  Thinking and writing out my bucket list has been so much more rewarding and productive than engaging in my eating disorder behaviors.  Now, some of the items on my list I have already done.  Most I have not.  Some are simple and seem pretty attainable.  I don't think I'll have any problem getting up in a hot air balloon for example.  Many of the items on this list seem next to impossible!  Seeing the Sedlec Ossuary?  Well I would have to go to the Czech Republic for that!  In any case, I challenge you to make your own list!  Here are 50 things I want to do before I die.  I plan to add more as I think of them.  My list might be a lot like yours, or it might be completely different.  Write your own and start marking off the achievements!  #31- Start a Blog....NAILED IT!   

1. Ride in a hot air balloon (and survive.)
2. See the Grand Canyon
3. Be a mother  2003 & 2007
4. Teach someone to read  2008 to current (and if they learn to love it that would be even better!)
5. Teach someone how to ride a bike  2010 to current
6. Save a life
7. Lean a foreign language
8. Learn how to play an instrument
9. Write a children's book (and maybe get it published)
10. Visit Australia (going September 2013)
11. Learn how to meditate
12. Have a house on the beach
13. Learn how to knit  2012
14. Have a chat with a Buddhist Monk
15. Visit The Netherlands
16. Be an extra in a movie
17. Visit the Amazon
18. Learn sign language
19. Speak in front of a crowd
20. Kiss in the rain (husband?  You game?)
21. Learn to stand on my head
22. Attend a Southern Baptist service
23. Go skinny dipping
24. Volunteer for a cause I feel strongly about (looks like I might have an opportunity with NEDA!)
25. Shoot a gun (no, I am not condoning gun use.  I just figure if I am going to have a valid opinion of them, I should shoot one once.)
26. See red lava flow in Hawaii
27. Read my grandmother's Bible
28. Go to the Sedlec Ossuary
29. Go ghost hunting
30. Assist in a crisis
31. Start a blog  2013
32. Learn to drive a stick shift
33. Hold a hummingbird (preferably alive)
34. See all movies that won Academy awards for Best Movie
35. Attend a protest for something I believe in
36. Attend a retreat of silence (basically a retreat where I have to shut the hell up for a few days!)
37. Stop a crime
38. Go to the Taiwan Lantern Festival
39. Visit Bali
40. See the Cristo Redentor in Rio De Janeiro
41. Go on a backpacking trip with my love (like an overnight one)
42. Plant a ginkgo tree and watch it grow over the years   2012
43. Tell a stranger they are beautiful  2012
44. Have a big party with all the people I care about (who's coming?!)
45. Fly a plane (and survive)
46. Hold some one's hand as they pass away
47. Meet the musician, Sting
48. Go to Día de Muertos Festival
49. Grow old with my husband
50. Help someone recover

 Oh, and if any one out there is able to help me reach any of these goals, let me know!

Live on,

-Kristy