by Amelia Love

Created on: January 12, 2009   Last Updated: January 15, 2009

Your Life List

In the 2002 movie "A Walk to Remember," Jamie is a quiet teenaged girl living secretly with a deadly illness. She captures the attention of Landon, a popular teenaged boy in her school, and a unique friendship begins. Landon finds a list Jamie created of everything she wants to do before she dies. Included in the list is "To stand in two places at once." Landon drives Jamie to a place in the middle of nowhere and directs her to stand in a certain spot. He then informs her that one of her feet is on one side of the state line, and her other foot is on the other side. She is standing in two places at once. Jamie meets Landon's eyes, realizing that he had succeeded in adding a vital feature to her list: "To share each experience with someone close." Landon's presence that night was what made the experience truly matter.

In the 2007 movie, "The Bucket List," two men dying of cancer strike an usual friendship and set out to complete their own experiences written on their "bucket list," or their list of what to do before they "kick the bucket." As they mark each item off the list, their friendship grows in ways they did not imagine. They too realize that the most important part of each experience is in sharing it with someone else.

Creating a list of desired experiences in life, or a "bucket list," is an exercise to help each person know what is truly important in her life. This list delineates the experiences that we do not want to miss, but are often too busy or even afraid to pursue. It delineates the true desires of our hearts, allowing us to reflect upon the "One day I will" statements each of us carries from childhood. It is different for us all. Some of us desire adventure. "One day I will skydive." Some desire knowledge. "One day I will learn another language." Some desire fame. "One day I will try out for that reality show." A commonality is that the list is shelved away until the last possible moment, until something truly frightening or life-changing happens that causes us to pull the list out and decide, "One day is today." The other commonality is that we often forget the most vital ingredient, the very thing that truly makes each journey on the list so special sharing it with another human being. Pursuing adventure, or knowledge, or fame alone would be very, very lonely. Those who have written their lists and endeavored to complete them have learned this lesson for themselves.

Sit down. Create your list. In doing so, discover your inner desires. Then, when you're ready, share each experience on your list with someone who matters to you. And if possible, don't wait for that truly frightening or life-changing moment to happen before you pursue your list. Instead, decide to make "one day today."

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