One of the realities we over-50s face is the reality of time. We all sooner or later come to view time as a precious commodity. It’s something that we are going to run out of sooner or later. So it’s time to make some hard choices.
For example, of all the places we can travel to in the world, which do we need to make happen, and which are a lower priority? The number of future vacations is limited; it’s time to focus on the important ones.
Which activities do we need to try and which are not important? This is why we have bucket lists.
Drawing up a bucket list requires making some choices. Some things go on the list and some don’t. So for every bucket list, there’s an un-bucket list — a list of things we have not done that we’ve decided to pass on (at least until after we complete our bucket list). In that spirit, I have compiled my own un-bucket list. It’s just mine and I don’t expect that anyone will agree with all of it. But I think it’s a useful exercise to list some things that I have never done that I absolutely don’t have to do before I die:
1. Hike the Appalachian Trail. I have visited every state in which the Appalachian Trail travels and I don’t need to hike it.
2. Golf my age. I’ve played golf and I like it, but I don’t need to shoot a score to match my age. Anyway, I don’t think that human beings live that long.
3. Scuba Diving. This is something I might have done when I was younger, but the boat has sailed, so to speak, on this one.
4. Sky Diving. I don’t care how old George Bush was when he did it. It’s not natural to jump out of an airplane. But then again, it’s not natural to fly. Of course, it is natural to fall, but falling several thousand feet does not strike me as fun.
5. Water skiing. I used to drive a motor boat for others to water ski, but never wanted to do it myself. I still don’t.
6. Surfing. I love to watch, but this is definitely a young person’s sport. My balance and reflexes are not what they used to be.
7. Rock climbing. I swear these people have a death wish.
8. Visit Asia. I’ve visited Turkey and so I’ve technically been to Asia but I have too many other places I want to see in the world before Asia (including Australia, South America and Africa), so if I have to miss a continent, this is the one.
9. Run a marathon. I don’t even want to drive 26 miles any more if I don’t have to.
10. Go to the moon. When I was a kid, a trip to the moon in my lifetime was a given. People spoke of honeymooning on the moon some day. Now, this is one dream that I have come to accept will never be realized, and I’m OK with it. But I’d still like to orbit the earth!
The Write Side of 59 