My Bucket List

"A life list is a set of goals that you set for yourself covering all the different areas of your life. It's meant to ensure that you decide who you want to be, and what you want to do and have in life, and that you take the necessary action to accomplish these things." -- Marelisa Fabrega

A month ago, I read the posting of one of my Facebook friends asking us what our bucket list is.  Her posting is a reaction to the grief that she is feeling for not telling her cancer-stricken sister how much she loved her  when she visited her two months before the latter died.  This got me thinking.  Why not make a list?  Why create one in the first place?  Having one will make us maximize every moment of our existence.  It will remind us of what is/are important instead of wasting time in futile activities.

I am making my bucket list or life list not because I am dying or afflicted with a life-threatening disease but I just want to enumerate the things that I really want to do.   I would like to share how I did mine.

As much as possible, refrain from putting qualifiers to your to-dos like if you can afford it or you are healthy enough to do it.  What is important is you were able to name the things that mean much to you.  Once you have them, start planning and take the necessary steps to achieve your wish list.  My list could be similar from what you have in terms of number of things to be achieved or the nature of the list itself but it takes a unique form when it comes on how to attain it.  

For starters, these are the things that I would like to do.  The list is not yet final and I will add new dreams from time to time.  Here goes:

1. I would like to visit all the famed Philippine tourist spots.  I don't want to be a stranger in my own land.
2. Make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2012.
3. I want to tour Europe and have my fill of Italian and Spanish cuisines.
4. Ride the gondola at Venice.
5. I want to scale the Great Wall of China.
6. I want to ride a cruise ship.
7. I want to set up a profitable blog.
8. I want to have a restaurant serving timeless recipes.
9. Study voice lessons so I can reach all the high notes singing my favorite songs in a karaoke bar.  (I can dream, can't I?  Lol.)
10. Lose 50 pounds before 2016.

http://www.squidoo.com/100things#module84531591
http://celestinechua.com/blog/whats-on-your-bucket-list-101-things-to-do-before-you-die

Mary & Bobby

Mary sat in the corner of the emergency room at the nearby hospital as the lifeless body of Bobby, her husband of ten years, lies on the hospital bed. Around her the doctor and the nurses were busy removing the tubes and equipment used to prolong his life. She craned her neck towards the door of the emergency room trying to look for a familiar face. She saw Timmy and Samantha inching towards her with her parents. Tears suddenly welled in her eyes at the sight of her children. Mary tried to compose herself and put up a brave front for Timmy and Samantha. She knew that with Bobby gone, she and the children face a bleak future. Bobby was a bank manager and his modest income allowed him to send his children to a nearby private school and indulge his family to an annual vacation with his folks in the province. Mary, on the other hand, sold ladies’ brassieres, panties, cosmetics and toiletries to augment the family income. With the minimal amount of insurance proceeds that she will be receiving from the bank plus the savings deposit that Bobby opened, Mary knew that she and the children will be doing a lot of adjustments just to live by.

Does this scenario look familiar to you? Do you know of someone, maybe a sister, a brother, a cousin or a friend, who just lost a loved one? This scene has been played a thousand times to many people. People just failed to plan for the future. 


If somebody will be displaced with your untimely death, insuring it becomes compulsory. You can put money in the bank or invest in a business but this entails big sums of money.  Setting aside a small percentage of one’s monthly income to buy a life insurance policy is a good way to start planning for the future.  A good life insurance program does more than just replace the loss of income that occurs if you die. It also provides money to cover the final costs that arise after one’s death,  college education for the children and part or all of your spouse's retirement needs. 

When is the right time to buy? The answer to that question is NOW. Procrastination could be costly. Your untimely death, a breadwinner, could spell suffering to those you left behind, delay in the realization of dreams or failure of a business. A life insurance policy is the best love letter you can give to your loved ones.


Have you done your love letter yet?

http://www.lifeinsurancewiz.com/LifeInsurance/basics.htm