Everyday, we plod through our lives with long to-do lists and everyday, we hustle to triumph over them.  Tax filing, checked (yes, a while back).  Baseball gears, checked.  Soccer gears, checked! Groceries, checked.  Pay seemingly endless bills, checked.  Wash piling laundry, checked. Register for after school activities, checked.  Register for summer camps, checked. Arrange play dates, checked. Lunch duty at school, checked.  And of course, more items land themselves on the lists as I barely make it halfway through. No permission sought, no warning given. But, I don’t mind them.  It is gratifying to check each, one by one.

The lists are neatly organized in my mind, on my phone and on my calendar, by due dates too, no less.  These lists make me feel productive.  Look at all the things I am accomplishing.  I am superwoman, or so it makes me feel. Lately, however, I am realizing more and more that these mighty checklists of mine are quite deficient…particularly in things that matter most to me.

Calling my parents, for one.  That deserves a spot on my checklist on repeat.  I love them and miss them but I don’t reach out to them often enough.  Lately, as I ponder about my own mortality, I am realizing, with much fear and dread, that time with my parents are becoming ever more precious.  How about catching up with my siblings and close relatives, or even just sending a one-line text to see how they and their family are faring?  It would be nice for them to know that I am thinking of them, even if we are all busy with our lives.  Then there are friends who are far away but near to my heart. If I am being honest, I can’t remember when I last reached out to them.   These should all have been some of my priorities.

Aside from maintaining relationships and reconnecting with loved ones, there are all these things that I want to experience in this lifetime, namely the things on my bucket list. Shouldn’t my bucket list be on my checklist, with a real deadline attached?  I want to walk the streets of  Paris and Vienna. I want to experience Mongolia and explore the old charm of Kyoto.   I want to dance ballet again and be able to play a Chopin nocturne on the piano.  The list goes on and has been steadily growing.  If I don’t make it a concerted effort to start doing them one at a time starting now, when will I start? Time to re-do my checklist.

How about you? What are some of the things on your check list?

*Featured image by Kaboompics .com from Pexels