Bucket list concepts and personal goal-setting

Bucket List

The 2007 film The Bucket List depicts two men who are dying of cancer. They each help each other fulfill their final wishes and dreams. As they do so, they realize that most of the things on their "bucket list" were not material fulfillment but emotional and spiritual fulfillment. For example, they travel around the world together but are not truly happy until they are reconciled with their families. This is exactly how I feel about my own bucket list. I might have some materialistic and fun goals that I would like to achieve, such as learning how to SCUBA dive, and flying in a helicopter. However, the most important things in life for me are my children. Before I die, I want to know that they are all happy in their own way. I would love to see them all happily married with children.

Therefore, I could relate to both the Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson characters in the movie. Their characters show that dying can be viewed as a natural part of the life cycle but that death and mortality are always difficult to deal with. This is as true for the people who are dying, and also for those who are left behind. The textbook section on "The Final Passage" is about dying and bereavement, showing that it is often the living who suffer more than the dying.

The fact that The Bucket List was produced shows that people are indeed "fascinated" by death and dying as the textbook suggests (p. 593). We know we are all going to die, but we do not understand anything about death. Our death causes us to search for deeper meaning in life. When we are confronted with death in the way that a terminal illness forces us to do, it becomes much easier to undergo a process of critical self-examination. When we look deep inside for the things that matter most to us, we can create a bucket list that reflects our core goals. The concept of the "bucket list" is a universal one, too, because dying is a central part of the human experience that transcends culture. As the textbook points out, "In Ghana, people are said to have a 'peaceful' or 'good' death if the dying person finished all business and made peace with others," (p. 595). Making peace with others allows one to feel peace in the soul for when the moment of death arrives. This is why the film Bucket List ends on a happy note, even though both the main characters still die. Death is presented as inevitability, but one that can be dealt with effectively and with as little anxiety as possible.

It is important to develop what the textbook calls the "final scenario," in which all the mundane affairs such as finances are in order (p. 609). When the personal affairs are in order, the person can die peacefully, as the saying from Ghana goes. Therefore, my bucket list begins with the desire that my children are comfortable and do not fight over my estate when I die. Although I might not die rich, I have seen people fight with their siblings over small things when the parents die. Therefore, I need to prepare a will to allow me to have the peace of mind.

The second thing on my bucket list is to see my children married, happy, and in the careers of their choice. I am fostering my children's career development by encouraging them to pursue their dreams.

Third, I want to receive my nursing degree in anesthesia and become a valuable member of the health care community. I am already on this path as a respiratory therapist, but I still have a long way to go.