Overview
A bucket list is a list of items someone would like to do or achieve before they die. The phrase originates from the term “kicked the bucket”.
Creating a Bucket List
No matter our age, financial or health circumstances we can all create a bucket list. This might be a short list of personal activities or an elaborate list of goals. Inspiration can take many forms. Your bucket list might be inspired by friends, family and a range of different interests. We are all unique and everyone’s bucket list will differ. The most important thing is to list items that are important to you at this moment in time and then focusing on experiencing or achieving them.
Learning from other peoples regrets can be a powerful catalyst for self-reflection and improvement. You might find the ‘top 5 regrets of the dying’ of value and inspiration before adding items to your Bucket List.
Top 5 regrets of the dying
The top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Bronnie Ware (a Palliative Care Nurse) can be found below.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
“This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.”
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
“Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”
Creating and sharing your bucket list on MyWishes
Creating your bucket list
Register or login to your free MyWishes account and go to the Bucket List feature. Now click on the ‘Add New Item To My Bucket List’ button. You will now be able to add the item to your Bucket List and assign a date that you hope to achieve it by.
Making your bucket list public
By default MyWishes vanity URLs are set to ‘public’. This allows for non-sensitive information to be shared publicly when a user would like to do so. If your account is set to public and you would like to share your Bucket List item tick the box as shown below.
If you do not want the item on your Bucket List to be made public do not tick this box. If you would like to disable your vanity URL and in doing so disable the ability to share anything onto your public MyWishes page click here.
The image above is from of a ‘Public’ Bucket List
Publishing your goals and achievements
You can publish the goals that you have set on your bucket list across your social media channels. This may help give you the encouragement you need to achieve them. The social media sharing buttons can be found next to each of the items you add to your Bucket List.
Your Bucket List
Once you have saved your Bucket List you can refer to it and update it as often as you like. If you do not achieve a Bucket List item within the timeframe you have set simply change the ‘due date’ to an achievable date in the future.
Further resources of inspiration
- ‘The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying’ book by Bronnie Ware (further information)
- The Bucket List film with Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman (IMDB Review)
- Stephen Sutton’s Bucket List – Possibly the most incredible and elaborate buck list of all time can be seen here (Stephen Sutton’s website)
MyWishes free to use software was developed under the guidance of healthcare, hospice, legal and funeral professionals. To learn more about how MyWishes works click here.