A very good morning to my dear readers and hoping you all have a great day ahead. We are on the verge of saying goodbye to 2021 & I am sure all of you have quietly recollected the good and the bad moments of 2021, the ups and downs, the happy times and sad times. We humans do have this tendency to get somewhat nostalgic and recall the year that went by while biding it farewell.
But then the old has to go to allow the new to come. So 2021 has to go so that we can usher in 2022 with bright optimism and hopes of happy and good times. Everyone aspires for so many things in life – money, growth, progress in relationships, in life, materialistic things and what not. And it is not bad to aspire for things, whatever they may be. After all we have been given this one life so we need to make the most of it and fulfill as many of our wishes as we can
We all have heard of the ‘Bucket List’ – the list of things one wishes to do or achieve or experience before one kicks the bucket i.e. before one leaves this world. Many people make their bucket list and write all the things they would like to do before they say goodbye to the world. Many write things which resemble a fantasy tale, but yet, a bucket list is a bucket list and it can contain anything which one desires to do or experience.
Most people write about places and countries they wish to visit, many others write about trying to do and experience different type of adventurous activities which we in our normal lives wouldn’t dare to even think about. Many write about people they would like to meet, many write about experiencing different lifestyles, tasting different cuisines, learning new languages, trying new career options, acquiring new skills and what not. There is no dearth of desires of people and to each to his own – people write down all that they wish to do.
But I wonder about one thing. Of all the people who have actually got inspired by this thought of making a bucket list and have actually done so, I would like to know, how many have actually taken any steps at all towards fulfillment of any of those items on their wishlist? Honestly, I think the number of people who actually have done something about the fulfillment of their bucket list will hardly be a teeny-weeny percentage of the overall total that has made such a list.
It is very easy to get inspired by such thoughts and fantasize about what one wants to do before one dies as the thought itself is a very melodramatic, romanticized one and making a wishlist is a matter of few minutes or hours. But deep inside we all realize that it is not something that you will seriously pursue. Your priorities in life are already clearly etched out for you and there is no place for including those items of your bucket list among the list of your priorities.
Then why do we make a bucket list when we know we are not going to actually go about fulfilling it? Well deep in our hearts we would like to do those things but reality of life strikes and stops us from going off-course and we continue to toil in our familiar terrain of routine life. However once in a while, romanticizing about the bucket list and its activities makes us feel good – it gives us a glimmer of hope – hope of what kind, no idea, but still, something to look forward to, something to dream about, something to discuss and talk about with your loved ones. I think that satisfaction itself suffices the main job of the bucket list. Frankly I think the concept of bucket list was made for this purpose only – to give us mental satisfaction and peace just by thinking about it and its contents and fantasizing about actually being able to do all those things. There….our desires are almost fulfilled…..the bucket list has done its job – making us satisfied souls who can now say goodbye to the world in peace.
So 2022 awaits us and those of you who agree with my thoughts, do make your bucket list…..if not in reality, we can at least complete our wishes in our fantasies…..
Dream Away…..
Dr. Rajesh Mankani
