I recently rewatched “Up” the other day. I think you all remember the 5-minute tearjerker in the beginning of the movie. There were no words spoken, just animation and music, yet the scene still pulls heart strings to this day. They showcase the protagonist and his wife growing old together, and one of the regretful parts in the movie was that the wife wanted to visit Paradise Falls, but she never got to do so before she passed:
Why “Up” Made Me Ponder My Life…
Even though the beginning of the movie talks about regrets around accomplishments, the realization at the end is supposed to counter that. The moral of the story, after you watch the entire film, is that the relationships and love you share with your close ones is what actually matters in life. The adventure the husband THOUGHT the wife missed out on, was actually fulfilled because the journey was the entire life she had with her husband. It wasn’t about the dream to visit Paradise Falls. It was the wonderful moments in their love and marriage that actually mattered and what she cared about.
When I finished the film, however, I thought “what if I want both?”
What if I want to complete my bucket list items with my partner and share wonderful moments with him, my family, and friends? What if I want it all? I want to see my full potential without sacrificing time from my loved ones. I really believe I have a lot to offer to the world, and I’m actually scared to live a “normal life”. I always feel like I’m kind of an anomaly (in a good and bad way) and I don’t want to succumb to normalcy.
I guess the movie put me in a state of conflicting emotions – mainly inspiration and worry, lol! A part of me believes that when I have kids, I won’t have the time to pursue my dreams so I need to get a lot of my goals completed before I have children. When I have kids I want to make sure I show them unconditional love and am there for every soccer game, every struggle they have…for everything! I want to be the best parent possible. Maybe being able to hustle online will help with this type of stuff. But anyway, I am scared to have life get in the way of my goals, and that’s why I created this site. I wanted to show people how we can all design our best lives if we do things a certain way.
Not only would kids encompass a lot of my time, the costs of having a family can be enormous. It makes me feel like I have to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time than I thought.
What I Want to do Before I Die…A Note to Myself
Because of my thoughts and feelings today, I decided to write out what I want to do before I die. I had created a bucket list before on MeWantTravel. However this time, I wanted to hone down on what I would REALLY care about getting done. I was picturing myself on my deathbed and trying to visualize what dreams I would regret not pursuing. I think it’s less the idea of actually accomplishing all these feats but more that I didn’t live a life true to myself if I didn’t complete these goals and dreams.
I separated them by section with “Shared”, “Sharon’s”, and “Sean’s” (Sean is my boyfriend). The great thing is we have a lot of similar goals and values so I wanted to incorporate him. We did this exercise together, and we’re planning to create a scrapbook so we have something to visualize our futures with and capture memories to look back on.
Shared
- Financial freedom on our own terms (no restrictions)
- Build/own a tiny house
- Own property internationally around the world (and Airbnb them out)
- Write a book
- Host a conference
- Create a game that teaches financial literacy to kids
- Create a product that impacts people on a larger scale (1M People?)
- Do something impactful helping people in third world countries
- Have kids
Sharon’s
- Road trip/Amtrak/Fly around USA for a month-ish
- Speak at a conference
- Have freedom to spend on creating music with no limits. Produce, write, and perform more
- Own my own garden
- Have freedom to go fishing / crabbing to relax when I want to
Sean’s
- Fly an airplane and helicopter
- Become a motivational speaker
- Learn how to cook
- See specific attractions around the world
- Learn how to become a shuffling master
- Marathon or triathlon
- Planche push-up
- Handstand
My Thoughts
I think I do have big goals, BUT most of them are quite doable. It helps to see this all put on one document, and I think scrapbooking and actually putting pictures to those goals will help me visualize everything and motivate me more.
Alternative lifestyles have always been appealing to me. I have done the digital nomad lifestyle and know the ins and outs of it, and I believe I will be pursuing that more in the future. But I am also interested in building and owning several tiny houses (or full sized homes) in areas around the world. When I was little I actually built my own wooden scooter and created blueprints of a treehouse I wanted to build! I guess there’s always been this interest deep down to get my hands dirty and learn DIY skills. My passion has always been creating, and that doesn’t always have to revolve around tech!
Shared Goals Recap
Not only did it help to write these out, it helped to write these out with Sean. We have a lot of shared goals, and I believe we can do a lot together. We’re both willing to take a month off to build a tiny house together, so that will perhaps be something we try in the near future. When looking at our shared goals, I would say the bottom 4 bullet points are not things we will worry about anytime soon. But the top 5 can probably be done within the next 4-5 years if we really put our minds to it.
My Own Goals Recap
I would say the top 2 bullets of my own goals can be done in the next 3-5 years, and I would like if I could accomplish the 3rd bullet in the next 5-10 years. Initially, I was trying to knock out “speak at a conference” soon, perhaps at Johnny FD’s Nomad Summit next year. But I realize it may be too soon (I have to mentally prepare myself), so I may wait for the next Chiang Mai Nomad Summit. I need to practice more as a speaker before I apply to a bunch of speaking gigs. Though I am breaking out my shell a lot more, I am still quite the fearful introvert.
And the rest of the bullets can be done when I’m old and gray :).
Conclusion
Having my “true” bucket list written out like that made things more clear for me. It helps me think about what timeframes I want to get things done by so that these items aren’t just unattainable pipe dreams that are never pursued.
If you enjoyed this post, let me know your thoughts below!
