If you’re like me, you’re a YUGE fan of lists. I make lists for just about every aspect of my life; from grocery shopping to weekly objectives, bullet points guide my Gunn-ways.
Before it was even warm enough to wear shorts, I made a summer bucket list for 2019. I rattled off hopeful aspirations like “read three books (or more!)” and “bring mile time down by 2 minutes.” The list practically spilled onto 3 separate pages. Being someone who LOVES growing in as many directions as humanly possible, my bucket list largely revolved around ways I could be better.
But we all know how this July version of a New Years Resolutions ended- life happened. I lost the list in a mountain of clothes and shoes and didn’t think twice about anything on it; It became a mere daydream I’d had when “free time” was still part of my vocabulary.
Until today
Today I found that list and with one glance I knew there was no way I’d completed anything on it. Not only was I ashamed, I was deeply disappointed in myself. “I’m supposed to be using this time out of classes to grow,” I thought to myself. I shoved the list back into my purse and it hit me. I WAS growing. Maybe not in the ways I’d wanted to, but if I’d been accomplishing the bullet points on my bucket list there would’ve been no time to accomplish the huge things I DID do this summer. If I had created 5 new projects for my art portfolio, I would have never written a press release for a multimillion dollar global company. If I had had 10 photo shoots, I may not have had time to go enjoy every moment of vacation. If I had made 3 new friends, I probably wouldn’t have had time to focus on deepening my current relationships.
You will NEVER miss an opportunity that is made for you, because THATS JUST IT- it was made FOR YOU. It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking about the things we didn’t get to do, like study abroad, work at that cool company, spend quality time with friends and family. Try flipping your attention to recognizing and honoring the experiences you DID have, I promise you won’t regret it.