Forget the Bucket List

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Abstract

g this vast array of things that you want to do in your life can become really overwhelming. They can make us focus on what we don’t have instead of what we DO have.Harvard professor and social scientist Arthur Brooks states that we go through life searching for satisfaction, for feeling good, for feeling complete -like we’ve accomplished something, like we’re in a good place in our life.He states that, to some degree, we have control over what we have. We can choose on how we want to spend our money, or we can decide to have things that aren’t monetary but are of value to us.However, you may have circumstances in your life that make it difficult to make more money or difficult to achieve that thing that isn’t even monetary.So I ask myself, what if we spent more time creating “reverse bucket lists”? What if we create lists of things that we already have that we appreciate or enjoy? What if we create a list of things that we used to want and now have? I bet we would feel more satisfied.By wanting less, by not want

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ing way more than what we already have, we can become more satisfied. If we train our brain to think differently about what we want, we might be able to change what we want and end up wanting less.What if we actually sat down and thought about what, in our lives, we really care about and enjoy? What do we love about our lives? What do we enjoy doing that we ARE doing?Like minimalism, if we learn to want less and not desire so much, we might find more contentment and more happiness in our everyday lives.This whole concept applies to our aspirations and our dreams and desires. Sometimes bucket lists create unattainable dreams and desires that just aren’t going to happen and leave us feeling dissatisfied.I’m not saying that we should throw goals or aspirations out the window, but maybe that whole concept of the bucket list as something we should have in order to be well-rounded cosmopolitan people should be shifted.Maybe we should spend more time looking at our own lives and what we already have.</article></body>

A key to minimalism and satisfaction…

Even though I’ve always been a person that likes to plan, I’m a person who hasn’t been great at bucket lists. Many people around me talk about their bucket lists — everything they want to do. They seem to have their lives all planned out.

At times, that’s driven me to actually sit down and create a bucket list — to think about all the places I want to travel to, all the things I want to do or accomplish in my life.

I think it’s great to have goals in your life, to think about how you want to plan your future. Afterall, if you just go aimlessly through life, what’s the point? When will you do the things you actually want to do?

However, I’ve felt like having this vast array of things that you want to do in your life can become really overwhelming. They can make us focus on what we don’t have instead of what we DO have.

Harvard professor and social scientist Arthur Brooks states that we go through life searching for satisfaction, for feeling good, for feeling complete -like we’ve accomplished something, like we’re in a good place in our life.

He states that, to some degree, we have control over what we have. We can choose on how we want to spend our money, or we can decide to have things that aren’t monetary but are of value to us.

However, you may have circumstances in your life that make it difficult to make more money or difficult to achieve that thing that isn’t even monetary.

So I ask myself, what if we spent more time creating “reverse bucket lists”? What if we create lists of things that we already have that we appreciate or enjoy? What if we create a list of things that we used to want and now have? I bet we would feel more satisfied.

By wanting less, by not wanting way more than what we already have, we can become more satisfied. If we train our brain to think differently about what we want, we might be able to change what we want and end up wanting less.

What if we actually sat down and thought about what, in our lives, we really care about and enjoy? What do we love about our lives? What do we enjoy doing that we ARE doing?

Like minimalism, if we learn to want less and not desire so much, we might find more contentment and more happiness in our everyday lives.

This whole concept applies to our aspirations and our dreams and desires. Sometimes bucket lists create unattainable dreams and desires that just aren’t going to happen and leave us feeling dissatisfied.

I’m not saying that we should throw goals or aspirations out the window, but maybe that whole concept of the bucket list as something we should have in order to be well-rounded cosmopolitan people should be shifted.

Maybe we should spend more time looking at our own lives and what we already have.