The Bucket List and Starting Over
13. May, 2008 
14 Comments
Today I’m in El Salvador on a Compassion trip. I’m pretty excited as there is a very different group of people here from very different backgrounds and the conversations are starting to get really good. Selfishly though, I’m the only one that I know of that’s blogging on this trip and I long for my soul mates from the Uganda trip…oh how I miss my dear sweet friends and all the laughter…
Anyway, flying down here I was thinking about what’s about to happen this week. It’s going to be a great week of playing with kids, diving into to family stories and getting to know the people who came with us. I love these trips. The thing I didn’t expect thought was to watch The Bucket List as we flew down here.
The Bucket List…what’s with this movie??? I really liked it. It’s a given that the actors in it are awesome and bad to the bone, but the story line and the point behind it threw me for a loop. I got a little teary eyed at the end when they both died…oh dang!!!! Did I just ruin it for you??? Sorry…:)
Seriously. I started thinking about a list…not a bucket list of things to do before I kick the bucket, but the little list I had in the back of my head for starting life over after the divorce. I didn’t mean to start one at all but now that I look back at it I see a bunch of things I did and am doing to make life different and to make life count.
My life post divorce really was about starting over and doing things to enhance the process of starting over. In some way it was tough but in other ways it was a completely freeing experience. You would have to know more about me to probably get what I’m saying here…but freeing was important for me. I wasn’t running from anything mind you…just taking life on from a different angle and for the first time in my life it felt completely right.
For the sake of not dragging this on…I live life to the fullest I can. Savoring every moment I can in the best way I know how. My friends and family are amazing to me as I have been walking through this process.
My list? Hmmmm….I’ll have to pull that one together for you sometime. I can assure you that I have dome a lot that is on my list.
As I watched this movie, I began to weep inside. Weep for the friends I miss and love but mostly weep because my heart is full of places it wants to go. I feel like the world sits at our finger tips and its up to us to figure out how to use it best.
I know it sounds weird but if you had the chance to start apart of life over what would you do? How would you treat it and how would you go about it? Got dreams? Go for it. Want to change who you are for the better so that you never have to go through this again? Go for it!!! Have you made a list of things you want to do in life? Things you would do to make life better for you? Your family? It’s time to dream again friends…dream big. Do sit around and let life pass you by.
Big Tent’s manager once told us to always enjoy the ride while you can. Take time to smell the roses as you pass by so that you don’t pass them by without noticing.
I look forward to the rest of my life because I know I will always look for a way to do my life differently, but just like in the movie…it’s all about feeling the joy and knowing you have joy in your heart. I love it…and I do…
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nice….well said!
nice….well said!
When we talked about you going on another trip I was so jealous. I know it’s your job and that’s what you do, but I wanted to come too. Africa was such a great trip. Thanks for taking me.
Now about the movie, I loved it. Not because I thought the movie was great but because I felt proud of myself. I am living my dreams, I have future goals and I am in love with my life. I love to LIVE. Thanks for the post it reminds to just go for it. Have fun. H
Thanks for this post, Spence. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve had a list like that for a long time. There’s something about getting to a place of being completely broken that, if you’re lucky, sets you free to dream and love and live. Keep on living that life!
Spence – You are not alone in your blogging on this El Salvador journey! Thanks for all your tips tonight. I am so looking forward to the rest of this adventure.
Megan
Yeah, gee thanks, Spence…for telling me how the movie ends.
Hee!!
Nah, seriously…when I first screened the trailer, I remember vividly thinking although I wanted to see this film badly, I wasn’t sure I was ready to because I felt it would make me sad which at the time was an overwhelming thought. I am still
going through some sort of grieving process…(if you can call it a process) over the loss of my grandparents, and more recently, a former friend/colleague. I love films….they are a huge part of my life, but for whatever reason if I suspect a grandparent, child or an animal may die….forget it…can’t see it. Oddly enough, it takes me back to the summer of 1975 when my parents (they were very young!!) took my little sister and I to see Jaws when my family spent most summers on the beach in Florida…but THAT summer marked the last one I ever swam out to the sandbar or jumped off my uncle’s boat in the middle of the ocean. I can still hear my Dad say, “monkey, it’s just a movie.” Didn’t matter…I couldn’t get the Jaws theme out of my head! It was only a couple of years ago in Puerto Rico with my little nephew that I was able to finally go into the ocean past my thighs….the pressure of impressing my baby nephew who swam much further in his spongebob squarepants water wings was much too great.
Ok, yadda yadda. Point is, I get what you’re saying. Maybe I need to add The Bucket List to my Netflix queue and get over it….not a whole lot going on there these days because I’ve seen everything else where nobody dies! Haahaa!! But to have a film impact you that much is why I originally fell in love with the medium in the first place,….I think the last one to have that impact on me was The English Patient. That one knocked me over. I was still so young then and living in NY….and had just married my career, so it clearly didn’t have the long-lasting impact on me that it would have had today. But I always have had a list…and still do have a list. And although I’m making my way down this list probably WAY too slowly, I am certainly, working through my list.
Thank you for the reminder Mr. Spence…to stay on top of it. Gosh, I should condense my comments….imagine if I blogged….I’d never shut up.
Enjoying your Twitters from El Salvador.
-a
Ladies…i love your comments…all the them short and long…
Ladies…i love your comments…all the them short and long…
love this movie
On my bucket list is a trip with you and Compassion! I have the camera and blog ready.
Enjoy your adventures!
Mike
Great post on the 13th Spence. You stated it well for all of us who have started over in life. Thanks for sharing!
Praying for you and the group in El Salvador!
My list… since being able to start over in my life this year, i have given great thought to being open and living life free, full and with much passion… specifically the list is undefined, i have many blank pages left to be written, but intend to fill them. generically i’ve always wanted to be a runner and never thought i could be
now I am! i’ve always wanted to be a writer and never thought i could be 
now I blog! more details on my list & accomplishments, see my blog.
I’m just glad to know that you cry. Truly a sign that you have been broken at some point in life and that is a blessing from the Lord, as “Megs” put it…the breaking brings freedom. We break and God puts us back together (starting over) and we are more beautiful than before.
Hey Spence, I finally had a chance to check out your blog! You mentioned here that you thought you were the only one blogging on the El Salvador trip, but I blogged all week and had great responses from my readers! Come check it out at http://www.jillsavage.blogspot.com. Thanks for the blogging tips you gave Megan and I at dinner during the trip…we really enjoyed chatting with you!