The Motivated Bucket List

As I sit in the stifling heat waiting for the house to cool down, I can’t help but think: what do I really want to do with my life? I remember the days when I would do things out of pure curiosity and intrigue, but those days are long replaced with the “ought” and “have” to tasks. Does that mean that I will no longer do things for the sole reason of trying them? Is there value in attempting something, regardless of the outcome? As I work my way through Drive by Daniel Pink, I think about these very questions, along with “what do I want to learn or try before I die?”

Here are five thoughts that I have. I’m sure I’ll think of others, but for now, these will do:

• Learn French so that I can converse with friends that are moving to France. I would also love to watch Amélie without subtitles, that would be AWESOME! Plus, foreign languages are pretty sexy. Maybe not in my own voice, but hey, I can dream, right?
• Make a feature-length documentary about the Christian subculture’s obsession with cover songs as offerings to God. With all the talk about giving our best, why don’t more churches equip and enable artists and musicians to do anything original?
• Write a book about idealism clashing with reality and the need for both to be present in our lives.
• Go to every continent. I’ve been to Asia (Israel & Jordan), Africa (The Gambia), and obviously North America. I would love to visit Europe, more countries throughout Asia and Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Australia.
• Speak at a TED conference about vision, passion and action.

While I may never do a single thing on the list, it feels good to dream. Attaining to something far beyond anything I can imagine helps to define and bring a sense of purpose and meaning to my life. It helps to give me a little more of that “work-in-progress” feeling that is essential to looking at life as a gift as opposed to a curse.