The Bucket List.
I’m pretty sure, these days, everyone has one. I do. Fishing in New Zealand (dreading that flight). Bone fishing in Belize (yes, please!). The Northern Lights (seriously need to do this one soon). Following a band on tour (Groupie!!!). Fishing in Patagonia (obviously, I’m obsessed with fishing). Austin City Limits Music Festival (would you say my life could be simplified to fishing, the outdoors and music?) Man! It adds up fast! Good thing this article isn’t about completing that bucket list. Nope. This article is about the exact opposite. Completing the … what should we call it? … the Unbucket List? The Never in My Lifetime Would I Ever do These Things List? How about the Never List? I like the way that one sounds. Let’s just go ahead and make it look cooler, though. This article is officially about the Neverlist. That’s what we’re calling it.
The Neverlist. All of the things you would NEVER do (or so you say, LOL!). Have you written this lists? I bet not. This is an overlooked list. Nobody wants to make this list. These are all of the things that you DON’T like. The things that aren’t fun for you. The things that scare you. And that is exactly why you NEED to make this list. Let me explain.
Music has been a big part of my life since I can remember. I can still see images from my childhood of my mother swinging around the kitchen as she prepped meals or baked goodies, the Oldies station demanding attention, always. She still does this, btw. AND because of it, I’ve got a mean lip sync to The Big Bopper’s, ‘Chantilly Lace’ (if I ever get brave enough, I’ll put it on YouTube for you … yeah, that’s never gonna happen, LOL!). My mom was the big Oldies fan. Long drives with my older sister persistently exposed me to 80’s Heavy Metal, better known as ‘Butt Rock’ these days. There were days of Country Western, and local radio stations with the modern hits. Band class and a really good friend turned me on to classical and instrumental, and my own explorations moved me into Modern Folk and Alternative sounds. Really, the range is so broad. So, even just a couple of years ago, had you asked me what kind of music I liked to listen to, my go to response would have been, “Everything except Rap.” That was my answer.
Here are the first 10 artists on my current playlist entitled “Dope” (yes, it gets playtime almost daily):
- Kevin Gates
- Akon
- DJ Khaled
- Akon
- Khalid
- Usher
- Katy Perry
- Nelly
- Taylor Swift (‘End Game’ – felt like this one needed an explanation. LOL)
- Future
All a version of rappish sounds. Yes, I love rap music! I love all of the little intricate details that play into the whole sound, the ‘ay’s and pimped giggles that find their way in there, the cocky attitudes. There’s so much to it! I’ll admit, I rarely know what in the world they are talking about, it’s totally a foreign language to me, but I don’t need to understand it to take joy in it.
So what’s my point? Never say Never! Who knew I would love rap music so much?! Certainly not me. But had I not opened myself up to the things I thought I would NEVER do, I would have been missing all of those little details that I love so much, and that, my friends would have been a tragedy, a life with less joy than could have been.
It makes me think of Clayton Christensen and his ideas and theories on Disruption (love listening to this guy talk). He’s a businessman, and so his ideas are applied to business, but read up on them and apply them to life in general. When you get comfortable, plateau, and go stagnant, you get hit hard. That’s the idea in a nutshell. True for business, and true for life. We need to keep ourselves moving (mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually) as to not go stagnant, strive for more. I recently heard this quote, “When you’re through changing, you’re through.” (It has been said by so many, that I’m not sure of it’s original source.) So true. Life is for living and learning, stretching and growing.
So grab your pen and paper and make your Neverlist. Here’s mine:
Run a marathon. Are you kidding me?! No way. Never. Anybody who knows me knows that I only have one speed, and that is faster. My body doesn’t even know how to jog. Seriously. I went for a walk with my sister and friend the other day, and those wonderful ladies decided they wanted to jog some of it. Couldn’t do it. I tried. I did, but my body was so uncomfortable that I had to speed up. I ended up running the last stretch at about 80% speed. It’s that or walk, none of that in between stuff. So, a marathon? . . . Dang, I don’t know how I’m going to do that!
Scuba Diving. Yikes! Sinking to my underwater death. Why?!
Climb Mount Everest. Or any similar mountain. I like the littler ones plenty, but seriously sacrificing my life? … can’t see how that’s worth it. I’m not dissing on it or anything, I just don’t understand it, that’s all. That hunger does not exist inside of me.
Post a lip sync on YouTube. You have no idea how shy I really am. Dang.
Own a minivan. I know, this is just pride. I have 5 kids, this would totally make sense for me, but still …
That’s all I can think of right now. I’m sure there’s more, though. As I think of them, I’ll update my list. I want to hear your Neverlist. Make it, and get to work on conquering. Keep moving. Stagnation is no bueno. We don’t need to be comfortable all of the time. Grow. Stretch. Live. And now, I’m going to go get started on that lip sync. (I don’t know if I can do it … somebody hold me to it!)