Bucket List

This has become a common phrase. A person makes a list of all the things they want to do ‘before they kick the bucket’. Problem is, we NEVER know when our time will come. There is a 29 year old young lady who is terminally ill, and has made a decision to end her life in the near future.

 

She doesn’t really talk about dying; she spends her time talking about living. AND, along with her family, she is spending her remaining time doing the things she loves and making memories with the people she loves.

 

Most of us get up, have our routine, go about our day and eventually climb into bed at night without really giving much thought to our surroundings, whether it is the smells, the sounds and/or the feel of the air. We are living a life, BUT are we really LIVING our lives?

 

Perhaps because of my age, I am more aware of time and how precious it is. I am about to hit yet another milestone. AND, as a good friend likes to say, “It beats the alternative.” And I absolutely agree.

 

How about we make a pact? How about the next time you take a walk, or are in the car, or you hear a baby laugh or see a dog wag its tail, you stop in your tracks (ok, not in the car), and you take in ALL the senses and you really become aware of the moment? It is what I plan to do.

 

Today is NOT like any other, and you will never have it again. If you choose to be a couch potato for the day, do it guilt-free. If you play a sport, give it all you have. If you are reading a good book or sharing coffee with a friend, be in the moment. NOT ON YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICE!

 

Don’t be someone who near the end of their life has more on their bucket list than days they have left. A bucket list doesn’t have to have activities like climbing the Himalayas, ski diving, or swimming with the dolphins, although it can.

It can include spending a quality day with your grandchildren. Helping a neighbor with a garage sale, or taking an art class that you always wanted to. Whether your ‘bucket list’ is comprised of bigger than life activities, or smaller ones that have meaning for you, remember what is really important is that you are doing things that fill your heart, give you joy and make your journey one worth taking.

 

 

Please share your thoughts.

 

For more inspirational thoughts and videos, please sign up at my website www.ronikugler.com. If you find value in my articles, please share them with your friends and family. I welcome all comments.

 

Bucket List

Are we there yet?

Anyone who has taken a road trip, as a youngster is familiar with this common cry, “Are we there yet?” It doesn’t seem to matter if you are on the road for 10 minutes or 10 hours.

My observation is that most of us live our lives waiting for the workday to end, the week to become a weekend, or months to go by so we can take a week or two and go on vacation.

We plan the next holiday before we are finished with the one we are enjoying. Then the common cry becomes, “Where has the time gone?”

We realize that our lives are also lived in-between special events and time off. In fact, there are many more hours spent during these normal, uneventful times. So why aren’t we maximizing and appreciating them more?

I believe it is because we don’t take the time to really find the good in them. I am willing to bet that most days, most of us experience something fun, funny or interesting. However, instead of stopping and taking them in, we just cruise on by and not give them much thought.

Each and every day is special. Each and every day is not like any other. Take the time to stop and soak in the moment. Don’t just walk through your life, feel your life. Don’t take what you have for granted, appreciate what you have.

Happiness is truly a state of mind. I remember a particular day spent with my grandson when he was just three. We were at a park running on the grass, falling down and laughing. He stopped, looked straight at me and said, “Grandma, this is a wonderful day.”

From the mouths of babes. Try and make as many days as you can wonderful ones. You really don’t need to be on a cruise or vacation to laugh, be happy or feel fulfilled.

The question shouldn’t be, “Are we there yet?” Because wherever we are, and no matter what we are doing, in reality we are already there.

Life is a journey. It starts when you are born and it should end when you die, and not one day before.

Opinions?

For more inspirational thoughts and videos, please sign up at my website www.ronikugler.com. If you find value in my articles, please share them with your friends and family. I welcome all comments.

Are we there yet?

Lighten Up

These words stay in my mind. I wrote a blog last week and one of the comments I received was, ‘lighten up’. Of all the comments I have heard over the past two years, this one made me really smile.

Perhaps many of us are guilty of taking life too seriously. Perhaps we spend more time making mountains out of molehills. Now, I get that many deal with real challenges. Life and death situations.

However, more often than not, too many of us manage to take the smallest of things and stress and over obsess about them.

Here are some personal examples. When running late to work I would go over in my mind all the excuses I would give. I would then play the part of my boss and think of what I would say when he confronted me at the door. I believe in a career that spanned 30 years, I NEVER had to use any of my lame excuses, and I WAS NEVER confronted at the door by a boss with arms folded and a stern look. I did however, start out the day stressed and worried.

I have worried about African Bees, Lyme disease, drive-by shootings, various epidemics (yes, Ebola comes to mind), and many other small and large catastrophes that are out there.

It seems so human to spend time worrying. And for most of us, we will live to a ripe old age having managed to miss most of the things that are our worst fears.

So, why do we do this? Why do we make ourselves sick with worry over getting hit by lightening? I don’t have the answer because there isn’t just one answer.

So I have decided for now, this very day, I shall take the sage advice given to me last week and I will let my mantra be to just ‘lighten up’. I will save my energy for when I am actually faced with a challenge, so that I am able to deal with it and NOT be drained from worrying about something that has not happened and probably won’t.

What do you think?

For more inspirational thoughts and videos, please sign up at my website www.ronikugler.com. If you find value in my articles, please share them with your friends and family. I welcome all comments.

Lighten Up

Welcome to my Blog Site!

Thank you for joining me here! Please enter your name and email address so we can connect and stay in touch.

Welcome to my Blog Site!

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to my Blog!

Garage Sales

Sometimes while I am driving the neighborhood or walking my dogs, I see various homes where the people are having garage sales. We all see them. The homeowners put on their lawn old kitchen gadgets, out-grown toys, clothes that no longer fit and a variety of things that seemed like a good idea when they bought them (does an exercise item come to mind)?

The day (hopefully) is filled with customers who grab up discarded books, gardening sheers and old cookie jars, all the while looking for a bargain. Now, I image all these customers have their own worn-out, out-of-date items that they would like to display on their front lawn also.

 

Why is it that someone else’s ‘junk’ tends to look more appealing than our own? Why is it that the very things we would toss out are the very things we envy when someone else has them?

Does your neighbor’s life seem better than yours? Do their kids seem nicer? Does their grass look greener? Did it seem like they got a better deal on their car than you did?

Instead of peeking over the fence with envy and wanting what someone else has, how about feeling grateful and blessed for what you have?

 

Life shouldn’t be a race or a competition. Life should be about being happy, enjoying your journey and hopefully appreciating what you do have.

There’s always someone with more, and there’s always someone with less. So next time you look at someone else’s fortune, stop and think that there is someone out there looking at yours.

For more inspirational thoughts and videos, please sign up at my website www.ronikugler.com. If you find value in my articles, please share them with your friends and family. I welcome all comments.

Garage Sales

Bravery

We all have our fears. Things we dread. Me? Shots, needles or anything else that pokes my skin. Today I am having a relatively small procedure, which entails a shot. I am not looking forward to 10:45 this morning.

 

After reading an article regarding Joan Lunden, who is dealing with breast cancer, and my spending some time thinking about family members and their health challenges, I have to admit, I am VERY fortunate.

My daughter-in-law has on many occasions mentioned to my grandson (when facing a needle), that ‘bravery’ is doing something you have to, even if you are scared. This doesn’t change my concerns and fears; it does however, give me something to think about.

We all face our fears and demons at some point in our lives. And it is okay to be scared. And it is okay to show your vulnerability. This doesn’t make you weak or a bad person. It actually makes you human.

Even though others might have a more difficult journey. Or perhaps you are the one with a difficult journey. Don’t minimize what you have to deal with. Keep it in perspective. Feel your feelings. Lean on those you trust.

A very close friend reminds me when I complain about my aches and pains and then qualify it with, “I know others have it worse”, that this does NOT diminish what I am going through.

So, I will put on my ‘big girl panties’, accept a warm hug and a ‘hand-hold’ and face THE NEEDLE while remembering that what I have is curable and for this I am fortunate and blessed.

What are your fears? How do you handle them? I would love to hear from you.

For more inspirational thoughts and videos, please sign up at my website www.ronikugler.com. If you find value in my articles, please share them with your friends and family. I welcome all comments.

Bravery