The Anti-Bucket List

I don’t want to, and that’s ok

I’ve just come across a short and sweet blog post by Rachel Weight at HuffPost called simply Creating my Anti-Bucket List. I love the idea behind it. We always hear about what we should aspire to do before we kick the proverbial bucket, and these lists serve a purpose, giving structure to one’s life goals, whether they are gravely serious (make amends with loved ones) or whimsical (learn to bake a blueberry pie). But it is good to know oneself enough to know what one absolutely will not do. It’s good to know one’s limits and respect them. With that in mind, and taking a cure from Rachel Weight (who made the list as part of a turning 30 realization), here goes my list:

• I won’t own a giant dog. I am a life-long non animal lover. That is to say, I’ve always liked animals, but never loved them. I am coming around to small and medium-sized dogs, however, and will stop and pet and play with friendly ones I see on the street. That is a big change for me. And yet. I will not be owning a big dog any time soon. If a small child can ride it, it’s too big for me.
• I will not travel to Pakistan. There is at least one place on each continent that fascinates me. In South America, that’s Brazil and in Asia, Japan. But Pakistan, with its sandy plateaus, acid attacks on women, honor killings, and threatening environment for Westerners and women in general, would be appealing if there were historical or cultural sites of interest to me. There are none.
• No buggery.
• I will not try to get through a book that feels like a chore (and yes I am currently in a book club). I’ve always said, life is too short for bad books.
• I will never ever stay at a youth hostel ever again (even at age 25 I found that I was way too old for it).
• I will color my hair, cut it, curl it, put pretty bows in it and alter it in many ways, but you better believe I won’t ever shave it all off.

Well, that was a fun exercise in knowing my limits. And it certainly got the wheels in my head spinning about what I AM willing to do. That will be for a future post.

What about you? What is absolutely NOT on your bucket list?