I watched the movie “The Bucket List” about two terminally ill men who escape from a hospital and head off on a road trip with a wish list of "to dos" before they die. After watching this film, I wondered out loud why don’t I have a list. Then...Just what am I talking about? It's a list of things you’d like to do before you "kick the bucket." Where did that last expression came from? I looked it up on the Internet. (What did we do in the days before computers when we had to run to the encyclopedias or dictionaries for obscure facts?)
Well, it turned out to be quite ghastly…The idiom "kick the bucket" comes from a suicidal technique used years ago. A man would tie a rope around his neck, secure the other end tightly to a tree branch while standing on a bucket. He would then proceed to kick the bucket out from under himself, thus killing himself and...kicking the bucket. (http://www.answerbag.com/)
Don't do that, but I suggest #1 on your bucket list should be to write your life history before you "kick the bucket" naturally. It will help you realize all you have accomplished in your life. Are there still things you’d like to do or accomplish? As a child my goals were (1) marry my Prince Charming and live happily ever after (still working on that one), (2) be a mother of five girls (I got 4 sons and gave up on that, maybe 5 grand daughters), and (3) travel throughout the world (I still have a few places left to see including the South Seas, parts of Europe and much of the USA.)
So what good does it do to have a "bucket list?" Maybe it’s like a final exam to see if you’ve accomplished all you’ve set out to do with your life. It’s definitely says much about you and your personality, life goals, etc. I would love to know what my dad’s ideas were for his life. I know he wanted to have a flying school service in our small rural town, but unfortunately he was killed in an airplane accident before he could accomplish that. He was working on building a television set back in the 1940s and had built several ham radio stations. He was ambitious, but his life was cut short just before his 29th birthday. Write down what is on your "bucket list" today and explain why. (I want to become a better photographer. Some photos of Utah I took many years ago.)
That is so horrible! I'm going to cringe whenever I hear that term now! Ew! :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure I'll want to use that phrase again either, but then I don't think I have ever used it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a bucket list, but I have thought if my life were to be cut short, what would I regret not having done. It reminds be to make the most out of each day, to reach out to my children and grandchildren, to nurture my relationship with my husband, to be productive but to also have fun.
I want to travel more in the US, and abroad, I want to go to Italy.And I want to take time to sit in the sun.
Good gracious! I had no idea that's where the phrase came from. Wow! I don't have a real bucket list, but I think I've had most of the experiences that have made my life full. Art's uncle had a list he wrote when he made 50. When he was terminally ill, Art's aunt went over the list with him. He discovered that he'd done everything he set out to do and more. I believe he died happily and peacefully.
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot from this one. I didn't know where that expression came from. To do what you want before you kick the bucket, or willfully end your own life, is a strange concept. So loaded with control over free will somehow. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteToday I asked a class of eighth-graders what they would like to learn before they die. This was in connection to a book we are reading. They said skydive, fly, learn Japanese....things that took them way beyond any limits time or money can impose.
That movie was just on TV..haven't watched it yet...
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