I was 23 years old and wasting my life away. At nearly 200lb, I didn't even recognize my own reflection. The last five years were spent drinking every weekend, eating for the sake of eating, and spending every evening locked in my room playing Xbox. Eat, sleep, work, repeat.
That was no way to be living.
At a visit to the doctors, I was told I was depressed. I tried to figure out what had happened to me over the last few years, blaming everything on everyone but me. I hated my work. I was overweight, sad, lonely, and didn't like how my life was turning out. I wasn't sure what had happened to the happy person I used to be. I came up with excuses for everything, until I realized only I could change my situation. Sitting around feeling sorry for myself wasn't doing any good.
I decided to write a list of some things to do to get myself out of this rut. It started off small: I climbed a hill; I dyed my hair pink; I grew vegetables; I learned to cook; I started walking more. The satisfaction gained from crossing something off gave me an idea: a bucket list!
A list of everything I wanted to do in my life. Foods to try, places to visit, things to learn. Everything I wanted to do, or had been too scared to do, I wrote down. The thought of being on my deathbed having spent my whole life like I had been terrified me, and I wanted no regrets.
Item one on the bucket list was the bungee jump. What better way to "jump" into my new way of living! What a rush! It made me realize I had been missing out on so many life experiences. From there the list grew to over 300 items.
Over the last four years I have been working my way through the list, completing nearly half of it!
- Skydiving
- Zip-lining over alligators
- Swimming with sharks
- Flying a plane
- Taking a submarine ride to the bottom of the ocean
These are just a few highlights. The more I got out and started living, the more energy I had. I stopped drinking, ran my first 5K, went to burlesque classes and roller derby, and through all of this I lost 45lb!
Leaving school at 15, due to bullies, my confidence was low and so were my grades. So when the opportunity came up to perform in a play, I was beyond scared! But my new way of living taught me to say yes. A few weeks later, I performed in front of 200 people. I loved it so much, I signed up to be involved the year after as well!
The more new experiences I had, the more my life changed. I found a new career, finally gained some qualifications, bought a house with my boyfriend (who became my husband), traveled more, and one day I looked in the mirror and saw myself coming back.
My bucket list has changed my life and helped me become the happy person I am today. I can't wait to see how I continue to grow as I cross more items off the list.
You can view more of my list and keep updated here.