HOW TO REINVENT YOURSELF
WITH A BUCKET LIST
Article by Camille Ditele Photo: Lauren Aletta
The best way to wipe out the pain of the past is to fill up the present with hope for the future. That’s why it makes a lot of sense to make writing your bucket list part of your post-divorce recovery.
If you were married young and almost immediately started a family, chances are you find yourself newly-single and with almost no idea of what kind of a future you could have.
Deep within us all burns a number of creative ideas about things we want to do, places we want to go, people we want to meet, books we want to read, and relationships we want to have.
Most people call it their bucket list, that secret list of things we want to do before we die.
In the process of renewing and re-inventing yourself, why not take time to write your own bucket list? Bucket lists are limited by reality of how much money is currently in our bank account or how remote our chances are of spending one whole winter writing a novel in a thatched-roof hut on a beach.
Be outrageous. Let your dreams have no borders. If you think it would be fun, write it down. Fill as many pages as you like; dreams are free.
Bucket lists aren’t just about places we want to go and experiences we want to enjoy. They are also about skills we wish to acquire or talents we want to develop. Perhaps you want to paint or design ball gowns or run your own animal hospital. You may want to be sensuous or wow dinner guests with a sparkling wit. After a few days of pouring out every idea that comes into your head, narrow the list down to things that on second thought still look like a great idea.
Do you want to swim with the dolphins? Climb a mountain? See the Running of the Bulls or the Daytona 500? Pick the top 25 things that really appeal to you the most. Then start to figure out exactly what it would take to accomplish one of them.
