(Written 10/8/11 by ChristopherK2 for the Nice MDers Over 35 blog)
I've seen a lot of recent buzz about "bucket lists" (plans to do stuff before you die). Most lists I've seen relate to ideas that take lots of money and not much preparation time, like traveling to the Pyramids. I'm not much of a traveler, so most of those don't appeal to me.
Although I could probably think up a list of similar items, it mainly got me to thinking about regrets for other things I never did earlier in my life and for which it is now realistically too late. Like say, having children or setting a world record in any sport. I'm not sure that regrets is the right word either. It's more like I wonder that ages old question... what if?
What if I had decided to concentrate on one sport instead of being pretty good at a dozen? Would I have become a pro golfer or bowler (my two best)? How would my life then have been different? You can beat yourself silly with questions like that, so I moved on to easier questions, especially things that I could still possibly do.
I've long regretted that I never took a basic course in music. If I had, I probably would've been a much better dancer and enjoyed it a lot more. Is it too late now? Should I take a piano course? I already, for strange reasons, have a piano that just collects dust.
Art and music appreciation are two other areas I wish I had explored. I can barely draw a stick figure, but do I have a hidden talent at, say, landscapes? And maybe I'm an unknown lover of opera?
Foreign languages are something I think I *should* have done, so I probably won't now. But I still feel that any truly educated person should know at least one foreign language.
Another area I've been thinking about is my lengthy To Do lists (I have several). I've always followed the old axiom to start at #1 and work my way down. But that has meant that I never ever get below maybe #15. So #50 has ZERO chance of EVER getting done. Maybe once a year or so, I should stand convention on its head and start at the BOTTOM of a list.
Or maybe--and this is the most likely choice--I'll continue to be guided by Robert Frost's wonderful words:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Yeah, I like that...
I've seen a lot of recent buzz about "bucket lists" (plans to do stuff before you die). Most lists I've seen relate to ideas that take lots of money and not much preparation time, like traveling to the Pyramids. I'm not much of a traveler, so most of those don't appeal to me.
Although I could probably think up a list of similar items, it mainly got me to thinking about regrets for other things I never did earlier in my life and for which it is now realistically too late. Like say, having children or setting a world record in any sport. I'm not sure that regrets is the right word either. It's more like I wonder that ages old question... what if?
What if I had decided to concentrate on one sport instead of being pretty good at a dozen? Would I have become a pro golfer or bowler (my two best)? How would my life then have been different? You can beat yourself silly with questions like that, so I moved on to easier questions, especially things that I could still possibly do.
I've long regretted that I never took a basic course in music. If I had, I probably would've been a much better dancer and enjoyed it a lot more. Is it too late now? Should I take a piano course? I already, for strange reasons, have a piano that just collects dust.
Art and music appreciation are two other areas I wish I had explored. I can barely draw a stick figure, but do I have a hidden talent at, say, landscapes? And maybe I'm an unknown lover of opera?
Foreign languages are something I think I *should* have done, so I probably won't now. But I still feel that any truly educated person should know at least one foreign language.
Another area I've been thinking about is my lengthy To Do lists (I have several). I've always followed the old axiom to start at #1 and work my way down. But that has meant that I never ever get below maybe #15. So #50 has ZERO chance of EVER getting done. Maybe once a year or so, I should stand convention on its head and start at the BOTTOM of a list.
Or maybe--and this is the most likely choice--I'll continue to be guided by Robert Frost's wonderful words:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Yeah, I like that...
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