This Week's Bucket List Additions 6

The world is so big and full of beautiful people and places, how can anyone not want to see it all?  The allure of comfort and the strength of fear keep us all from pursuing things on our bucket list.  I just finished watching 'Eat. Love. Pray.' on a rainy day, and I was struck by one piece of wisdom, (actually I was struck by several, but this seems most relevant to my current ramblings).  In the movie Julia Roberts begins a quest to find passion and balance in her life and although it's difficult she said, (I'm paraphrasing) 'I can't just stay the same because I'm afraid of being destroyed.'  So this week, every thing I put on my bucket list is something that scares me.

-Go Skydiving.  Difficulty Rating 6 out of 10:

I want to jump out of a plane, plummet like a rock for several minutes and then float gently and majestically down to earth.  I want the adrenaline rush, I want the breathtaking view, and I want the bragging rights.  I want to conquer my fear.  But I really don't know if I want to do something where the negatives include horrible, painful death.  I guess any activity has a chance of ending in death, but some are certainly much riskier than others.  Maybe I'll go skydiving someday, maybe I won't.  But I think maybe I will.

Going indoor skydiving with my wife a few years ago

Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

-Pick Up a Hitch-hiker. Difficulty Rating 7 out of 10:
I want the world to be full of generosity.  I want people to help each other every day in small, easy ways.  And I want us all to be more trusting, but it's scary.  I think it was Gandhi who said that we must, 'be the change that we want to see in the world.'  So I want to pick up hitch-hikers.  Once, when I was in college, my car broke down in the middle of nowhere.  This was before I had a cell phone and I was in for a long hard walk until some kind strangers picked me up and drove me all the way to my parents house.  I have always been grateful for their kindness and I hope one day to pass it on.

-Have a Kid.  Difficulty Rating 9 out of 10:
Children seem like such a mixed bag.  Who doesn't want to pass on their wisdom and love?  How can you not want to mold the world's future in such a tangible way? Having a child is in many ways an excuse to return to your childhood and play with toys and see things with new wonder.  But kids also mean less freedom, less sleep and less money.  I think I'd have regrets at the end of my life if I never had a child, but they scare me so much.