The idea of a bucket list has gone viral in the last few years. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept -- the list of goals or dreams, serious or frivolous, you wish to accomplish before you "kick the bucket." There are websites, movies, and books dedicated to helping you carpe every diem. In that spirit, four years ago I made a "thirtyx30″ list of things I'd like to do before turning 30 this year, and have been steadily working my way through it.
However, this weekend, I went to coffee with a dear friend who revealed she had an "Anti-Bucket List."
"A what?!" I said.
"A list of things I will never do," she replied.
"That's brilliant. Give me an example."
"Well... I will never go on a cruise. Don't put me on a boat with 2,000 strangers and call it a 'vacation.'"
Wow. A list of things that I just never have to do. The problem is, people don't judge you for your mostly unoriginal bucket lists (mine includes be in a flashmob, wine tasting, make lasagna from scratch, (cough) boring!), but when I started forming my Anti-Bucket List, I realized some of these might require a little explanation, or I might sound like a bad person.
So here we go.
My Anti-Bucket List
- I will never own a bird or date someone who owns birds. There is no traumatic story from my childhood behind this, but I just hate birds. I think they are Satan's messengers.
Let the record state -- this list doesn't mean I think ornithologists who run for office, donate blood, and sky-dive way to scary movies in Kansas theaters are bad people. They're just not me. I'm all for adventure, going out of my comfort zone, and pushing limits, but I also feel freedom in declaring things I don't want to do and will not be pressured into doing. I don't need to run long distances or jump from a plane to be a whole person, and neither do you.
So, what about you? What's on your Anti-Bucket List?
