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Our romance heroes and heroines all have goals, but those are different than what you might put on a bucket list. Goals: be successful, solve a problem/crisis, find love, etc. Bucket List: travel to Hawaii, skydive, go to a Superbowl game, etc. Definitely different.
In "Street of Dreams", Eileen has a goal to prove her worth in her department. But, a bucket list item would be to actually use "Street of Dreams" time travel capability and visit a time period (the 1960s) that she's an expert in and has longed to see for herself.
In her case, she gets to combine both...her goal and scratch off one item on her bucket list. Traveling through time to 1965 satisfies both, and gives her that chance to help solve a case.
Should our heroes/heroines talk about bucket lists? Mine usually don't since they concentrate on the here and now...and ways to reach their goals. Maybe as they would "age", they'd take more time to consider creating a bucket list!
Me? It's time to think about my Bucket List and forget about New Year's Resolutions (since they're the same things year after year):
Lose weight and get in good shape
Make more money - be more successful
Healthy life for family and friends
World Peace
I've done the weight loss and gotten into shape, only to have those extra pounds find me again. My name is Marianne and I'm a chocoholic. And, I love to cook which translates into a love for eating. I haven't seen size 10 since high school and don't think it's in my future again.
How do you rate success? Make more money? Sell more books? Find the magical formula for stock market trading? Win the lottery? Tried all, none work. I do what I can to sell books, but I'll never replace Nora as "Queen of Romance Authors". I had luck with one stock...until the company was sold. Spent more money on lottery tickets than any "wins" I've had.
I can't control the health of others. I can help, make suggestions, but there's nothing else I can do. People get sick, have surgeries (don't I know), ignore doctor's orders. While I can have some control over children's healthy choices, I can't control nature...just pray.
World Peace - yeah, right. Like I have ANY control over that. I can continue to love my neighbors, but can't control the fanatics of the world. Again, I can pray.
So...I decided to list three things here from my Bucket List instead of New Year's Resolutions:
When my kids were little, I used to take 12 photos of them together for Christmas cards...and that didn't always guarantee one GOOD photo. I guess my grandkids have learned photo phobia from their parents!
So, what are three things on your bucket list?
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Photos: Flickr: VerismoVita, Nia (so let's go!), wallyg, and cakeyhamburger's photostreams.
13 comments:
When we can, I'd love to take a trip with just my husband to Moro bay where we had our honeymoon.
Go to Santa Ana pier and Lancaster for some research for my book and see the poppies bloom.
I'd love to visit Spain, France, England - win a million bucks - live like a King or someone in Congress. :)
I do have a good picture of all my grandchildren and children taken this past Christmas. Lucked out there.
Would love to see the pyramids in Egypt. I've been fascinated with Egypt forever.
Good post, Marianne. I want to continue to write books and live near the beach with my husband. That would be the perfect life.
Best--Adele
I missed going to Mt. Rushmore because I begged to go to Wall, ND, never dreaming my dad wanted to surprise us! So we ended up waving at the exit....and two years later, Mom and Dad went without us!
So yeah....a trip to Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, and the Statue of Liberty for here in the US. Greece, Italy, and France for overseas:)
Hi, Marianne. This is a good, and thoughtful, post. About 20 years ago I wrote a bucket list, and I managed to do everything on that list: see Grand Canyon, visit England, go back to Italy, publish a book, and other things. Now I have a new bucket list. The main thing I want to do is retire to Arizona. Still trying to convince my husband. I think it's important for everyone to have goals regardless of what those goals are. We all need something to strive for. I like the idea of h/h having a bucket list.
I've always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore. I'll get there someday. I've also always wanted to see the Alamo and will do that when I go to EPICon this March.
Good luck with your bucket list. I love the idea of visiting baseball stadiums. I've heard of others doing that. Your grandkids are adorable.
My bucket list: Italy, selling a LOT of books,falling in love again, Strasbourg, owning a house that looks on water (not the flood--been there, done that). Had a thought about heros & bucket lists--it might make a lovely story--a retrospective of filling the bucket? Hmmm. Oh, JL--GO TO EGYPT--lived there a year, incredible! Meredith
Good column. I must say I never thought of a bucket list. Just want good health and moderate sucess for my children and grandchildren. I've done and enjoyed so much myself, I'm content to write.
Great post Marianne. I've never had a formal "bucket list" but I have wanted to do things, like travel, sing in a band, design clothes, go to culinary school. I've traveled, sang in choir, had my own business sewing and some designing, but never gone to cooking school because family said my cooking is great, so why? I guess I need to figure out what else to do besides write which I never thought I'd do or wished to do! Go figure! :)
Oh my gosh, I've done so much traveling, and I've seen a lot of the places many of you want to see.
Mt. Rushmore is one of the places I would want to see. So here goes:
1. Mount Rushmore, 2. See the Galapagos Islands--Yes. 3. This is one is open because it's up to me--Get the book I'm working on finished and publish it.
I meant to say 'thanks' for this post, Marianne. I really enjoyed reading all the comments.
There is bench in Key West in front of a Library that is haunted.
It's suppose to be a woman Librarian and her small dog. I learned about it on tour when there on a cruise.
I really want to go back and check it out.
I really enjoyed this post:) There are lots of things I want to do, but the top three are, pay off all my debts (simple but worthy), visit Jamaica again and take my son with us, visit Ireland.
There are lots more, but I'll hold back. LOL Maybe I'll blog about bucket lists too.
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