A HOLE IN THE BUCKET
Most people have one … a bucket list. You know, all those things that you would like to do before the final curtain closes on your life.
It is an interesting concept to me, to quantify all your hopes and dreams into one list. As the selfproclaimed “List Queen,” I must admit, I jumped on the bucket list train pretty early on.
When I was a bit younger and not quite so bogged down in the world of responsibility, I did manage to check a few things off this proverbial list. The interesting thing is that the list tends to remain the same size, or even grow longer! As nature abhors a vacuum, so the bucket list abhors blank lines, it seems.
Oh, sure, as I get a little older, I have pared down that list a bit. What are those things that would really enhance my life, that would satisfy deep longings in my heart and would feed my soul?
Certainly, there are places that I want to visit, there are personal goals that I long to attain, and there are people whose lives I hope to connect with mine. I have also become a bit more of a realist and a little less of a dreamer. But is this good?
A perfect for instance: when the lottery reaches record amounts of money, it seems the entire population gets lost in lottery fever. I don’t normally play, but for the cost of a $2 ticket, I have bought a slice of a dream.
It’s temporary, of course, but for a few days, I play the “what if” game and imagine all the wonderful things I could do with 3.4 bazillion dollars, and the items I could check off my all-important list.
It’s a dream. But it’s a fun dream, and it brings smiles for a few days. I can honestly say I’m batting 1,000. I am consistent in the amount I have won in the lotteries! Perhaps next time I’ll take that $2 and buy myself a cup of coffee instead!
So, the bucket list exists. No, not on paper, but in my heart. But in 2020, I hit a huge snag — the same snag that has gripped all of us: COVID-19.
So basically, my bucket has sprung a leak. There’s a hole in my bucket now. But you know what? Holes can be patched. Dreams can be kept. There is a future.
COVID-19 is but a roadblock in our paths. So, stay the course, my friends. Keep your eyes focused on your future — the one where you can get back to enjoying life. It will come.
You too will fix that bucket and get to enjoy those things for which you have hoped and dreamed. Hold on to that bucket! It may be weathered and beaten, but it still contains better days.