Some thoughts on a bucket list

Tomorrow with Barb's brother in town we will be off to the Art Museum in Chicago. They will take their time reading every sign and I will stroll through the place finding things that interest me. They enjoy moving at a snail's pace so it is best to meet them later for lunch. I will walk any where from 10,000 steps to 14,000 steps. There is a lot there to enjoy. Sunday Barb and I will go to a Dulcimer Festival and a walk. There is a trail at he park and also the I&M Canal is near by.
I read an article about Bucket List and our denial of getting older and dying.  The author shares how a bucket list is used by people in their 20's and also dating sites. The movie was about two terminally ill men who eventually challenged each other with their bucket list to fight depression and hopelessness they found themselves in. Their bucket list included relationships to be mended. There has been articles of baby boomers who will do anything to avoid getting old. We all age, but I like "the rounding off the curve" concept.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper proposes preventive medicine designed to help us to slow down the decline of aging where through medical care, diet and exercise, non smoking, lower body fat we can expand the time where we lead active full lives before aging slows and final decline takes our lives. Sedimentary living and unhealthy lifestyle can limit our activity and age us quicker where we need more assisted living. Two books that give the science of the "rounding off the curve" are Regaining the Power of Youth at any Age and Start Strong, Finish Strong which can be ordered at http://www.cooperinstitute.org/ Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen talks of preventative medicine and lifestyle issues as well and has lots of interesting articles and videos at http://www.realage.com/ .
If anybody should have bead knees it is me. I have fallen so many times and cracked my knee cap that my good friend arthritis has visited. Since I have been walking knee pain has all but disappeared.  I chose sedimentary living I know the pain would hae increased. In my shoulders and neck therapy and band exercises help control inflammation there. I know we are all different but moving helps.
I recall in the Screw Tape Letters by C.S. Lewis how activities could prevent people from considering eternity. A bucket list doesn't have to be about jumping out of a plane, it could include unfinished business like Jack Nicholson's character making amends with a daughter. I think it is possible when we get older to plan to have a few adventures while we can. A big part of my walking is to be able to move around and live. Setting new goals about work and helping others for awhile is good. Work that you enjoy can be art of a retirement plan. A trip to the UK, visits to part of the States I haven't been, new dishes to cook and grill, continue to live and be involved. I think it ii a good thing not to be laid aside and forgotten. The alternative may be loneliness and despair.
Will we age? Yes Will we slow down? Yes but not too soon. I think reassessing things when you are older is good. If there is something you want to do, do it while you can. Walking and exercise and a good diet will give you more time to live. Figuring out spiritual values and eternity is something that is important at any age. The bucket list won't ignore
Speaking of buckets, Scott wrote about the "bucket test" on his blog, http://walkingtoretirement.blogspot.com/  You take a bucket of your choice and put your finger in the bucket and when you take your finger out and there is a hole there than you can't be replaced. But if there is a no hole there than you can be replaced.
I think a bucket list can be a positive thing. It is particularly good if it is suited for you and your list. Things you enjoy and care about, include in your list your spiritual quest and what is important to you in your relationships. What's on you bucket list?