What would you do?

There's a term called the "bucket list". The "bucket list" is a list, written or mental, which includes all of the things you would like to do before your time on earth ends.  But what would you do if one day you were told that there was a distinct end, a light at the end of the tunnel if you will, or a limited time left here on earth?  Would you make amends with someone with whom you had parted ways?  Would you spend as much time as you could with those you loved, doing the things you love?  Would you become the daredevil you always wanted to be?  Would you go bungee jumping? Skydiving?  Parasailing? Would you get a tattoo? Would you travel and visit all the places you always thought you'd have the time to visit?  Would you make sure you never missed a single chance to tell your loved ones that you love them?

I've been thinking of my own "bucket list". I've gone parasailing.  I've always wanted to go hang gliding.  I've always wanted to go to Italy and Hawaii.  I'd love to take my parents and all my siblings and their families to Disney World.  I'd like to just walk the beach holding hands with my husband and children, kicking our feet in the water as we walked, and NOT picking seaweed off our ankles or from in between our toes.  I'd like to get a tattoo, and I just did that.  I'd call a former friend and apologize for the mean letter I sent her when she hurt me.  I'd like to get together with old friends and laugh and reminisce about good times.  But mostly I'd like to spend every moment making memories, memories to treasure in my heart to carry me through dark times, and memories to leave in the hearts of those I'd be leaving behind. 

It's hard to think about things like this, much in the way it seems morbid to make a will or to talk about who you would want to raise your children if you were no longer here to do the job.  But why does it take receiving a death sentence to make us live?  Why don't we do these things each and every day?  Why don't we say "I love you" more often? Why don't we make more of an effort to spend time with our families and friends? Why don't we build memories now? 

There is a saying that I like that says "Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children".  It's so true...what kind of memories are we giving our children?  What kind of stories will they someday share with their children about what it was like when they were children living with us?

Tim McGraw sings "Live like you were dying", and maybe we should.  No one knows when their last day is so why waste a single minute?  Life here on earth has so much to offer, there is so much to see, so many things to do, and so many people to love and treat well and memories to be made every day.

I'm going to work on making memories, leaving good memories in the hearts and minds of my children, never missing an opportunity to say "I love you" and maybe, just maybe, go hang gliding in Hawaii someday.