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Things to do before the world ends
Monday 15th October 2012 | Sophie
If you believe that the world will end on 21st December, then you haven’t got long to achieve your ultimate life goals....
If you are aware of your own mortality, you still haven’t got all that long to do the things you’ve always wanted to do. Sure, bucket lists are more than a little contrived, but taking stock of your life is an important way of gaining perspective. What do you want to achieve before you kick the bucket? Here are just eight ideas for you to consider:
Travel
Go on an adventure. Take a roadtrip across America, visit one of the wonders of the world, or spend a year abroad. Travel is all about experiencing new cultures, foods and sights, about meeting new people and about getting to know yourself. Even if you just travel a little further than normal to try out a new local, or a different route home, you are exploring your world rather than merely existing in it.
Do something that scares you
Perhaps you are terrified of heights, or of speaking in front of a large audience, or maybe the mere idea of leaving the house without your make-up on appalls you. Whatever it is that scares you, do it. Why? Because if you only ever did the things you were comfortable with, chances are you would never achieve anything. Challenging yourself reminds you that you are alive.
Do something selfless
Whether this be running a marathon for charity, or volunteering at a soup kitchen this christmas, do something for someone else. Giving blood three times a year can help save up to nine peoples lives. Doing something nice for someone else will not only bring happiness to their life, it will also improve your sense of self. Think of all the times someone has brightened your day, and give some of that positivity back. Life is all about good karma.
Take up a new hobby
Why not throw yourself into something new? Take up a sport, develop a current interest or learn a new language or skill. Educate yourself. Having interests and passions makes you a more interesting person and opens up opportunites to meet like-minded people.
Plant a tree
Planting a tree is one of the most basic environmental acts that anyone can do. What could be more simple and profound than beginning the life of something that future generations will benefit from? (that is, of course, unless the world actually does end this december).
Fall in love
Whatever you do, fall in love. Fall in love with a person, with your family, with your friends, with a book or a song. Fall in love with anything and everything.
Do something utterly mundane (but try not to tweet about it)
Hang out the washing, take a shower, eat, sleep, walk, talk. These are the things that make up your everyday existence. Take pleasure in the small things without always wishing you were somewhere else, or someone else. Without trying to sound like an enlightened author of one of those preachy self-help manuals, stop living in the rose-tinted past, or the fictitious future and try to see the beauty in the everyday things. Find beauty in the banal.
Be human
Get in a bad mood, procrastinate by writing a to do list (or a bucket list), drink too much, step in dog poo, eat most of the cake mixture before you’ve cooked it, regret something. In getting wrapped up in goals and ideas of success, we often forget that the joy of life is in simply being human, and that includes making mistakes. Mute the voice inside you that tells you to hold back for fear of failure. Most people on their death beds regret what they didn’t do, not what they did.
What’s on your bucket list? To make your first million? To own a private jet? If it’s full of unachievable, egotistical and materialistic goals, perhaps its time to re-think your game plan and gain some perspective on life. Surely the idea of a bucket list is to humble oneself? Don’t be too contemptuous of the connection between love, kindness and a happy life. As Oscar Wilde puts it; “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”
Check out the trailer to 2008 feel-good film The Bucket List below:
By Sophie Douglas
