I try to make my life motto, Live while you live, and it closes my weekly articles because I believe wanting plus doing is positive behavior for mental wellness.

Not to be morbid, but it is a fact we will die, you and I, and we don’t know when. Therefore, it makes sense we could, would, should give a little more thought to our bucket list. Too often, we put off what brings us joy because we don’t have it on our schedule, and we unconsciously believe we have many more days, weeks, or years of a healthy life.

Maybe we do, and perhaps we don’t. We will not know until it is too late, so why take the risk?

I wonder if the people on the Titanic, as they were trying to secure a lifeboat, wished they would have said, “I love you!” earlier in the day or accepted that chocolate soufflé for dessert.

How many stimulating conversations or scenic walks do we miss because we were unable to say NO to our to-do list?

For sure, I am guilty.

Work seldom ends, and obligations hang in the background of most days. If we put off doing what we want to do until all conditions are perfect, we will run out of time.

A woman told me, “I’ve always wanted to climb Longs Peak!” Around the same time, I listened to a presentation from a 13-year-old boy who climbed all 58 Colorado 14ers by the time he was 12. There was much contrast between the two people: One spoke about what she wanted to do, and the other did it. One was living while he lived, and the other was dreaming without action.

The boy spoke with enthusiasm and said, “It was so much fun!… I loved this mountain the best!… The flowers above timberline are small yet so pretty!” On the other hand, the woman gazed off into the distance, and her voice was soft and low.

I do not want to be an old woman who rocks on the porch saying, “I sure wish I would have gone on that hot air balloon…or that rafting trip through the Grand Canyon…or lived in New York City for two months.” Instead, I want to be smiling on that swing at the end of the day, exhausted from checking off my bucket list and thinking, “if this is my last day on earth, it has been pretty sweet.”

I am also going to eat more rum-raisin ice cream and scream when I’m mad.

How about YOU?

Until the next time: Live while you live.

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