Bucket List

Dreams are interesting things. Some of my dreams wake me up talking to my husband, cussing out a dog, lecturing a child, or even getting up to go do something so important that it propels me out of my sleep to go do it. But maybe those are more nightmares than dreams... 

This weeks lesson resonated with me as I listened to and read a lecture given by Randy Pausch, a professor from Carnegie. He talked about his life of dreams and how he had accomplished those dreams. "Bricks walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. ... Brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. Those brick walls are for other people."(1) 

How badly do I want something? Do I let walls get in my way? Well, yes, I do. I tend to shrink away from some things that seem too hard or insurmountable, like figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Creating a Bucket list of 50 things was hard and easy. It was fun to dream about what I would love to see and do. It was hard to really pin down what I really want to do. I am proud of myself for creating that list and making myself consider what I really want. Often, my wants and needs are swallowed up in my kids' needs first, my husbands needs too. I am not the breadwinner and I am happy to take second fiddle. But this exercise helped me remember I have things I want and I can still achieve them. It helped me remember some of my dreams that have been pushed aside, or maybe just put up for storage for a bit. 

So how can I be like Randy Pausch and achieve my dreams? I am taking a few of those dreams off the shelf and am dusting them off. Let's see how I can make them shine again. One of my dreams that I have had since childhood has been to travel the world. My husbands job allows us the chance to travel with the company to entertain people. Fun to do, but not my first pick because my husband is in work mode versus relax mode. I really love to go with him to see new places. We got in the car the other day and took a trip down the coast of California. It was an additional 2 hours of extra time for our original destination but it was a breathtaking ride. 

I am determined to take those moments as they come and enjoy the journey, literally. Take those extra side trips when we can, even enjoy those work trips as much as I am able and fulfil one of my childhood dreams on trip at a time, one experiece at a time. Next trip, Disneyworld! 

1. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf

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