No Earthly Regrets

“What is at the top of your bucket list?”

“What is one thing you want to accomplish before you die?”

While I’ve often heard others talking about their life’s goals, their bucket list, etc, I’ve apparently never given it much thought myself. This became very obvious today when I was in an interview for our company newsletter. I came up with something rather blasé, but it made me wonder: what are my life’s goals?

Now, I should start off by pointing out that I’m actually a very goal-oriented individual. I used to keep track of everything primarily by memory, but early this spring I switched to using Todoist (https://todoist.com) for my day-to-day tasks. Everything that I need to remember to accomplish at work, at church, and in my personal life goes on there. Sometimes, I am even a bit over-zealous (in my own opinion, at least). But all of those goals are short-term (within the next 3 months). I don’t plan much farther ahead, unless it’s a special event.

I also work on my hobbies (shooting/editing videos, video games, coding projects that aren’t work related), but I don’t often make specific goals with those. I think about it, but I never follow through. And I’m beginning to think that my approach is unhealthy.

I often explain away my lack of long-term goals as being content with where I’m at. Which is true, I look for the best in my current situations (though it’s not always easy), and I genuinely enjoy where I’m at, and what I’m doing. But I have to ask myself: am I becoming stagnant? Am I choosing not to try new things, not to dream and set goals, because I am afraid of failure? Afraid of how others will view me?

After some introspection, I believe that the answer to many of those questions is at least a partial affirmative. I can rattle off a very long list of opportunities I have not pursued, risks I have not taken, because I did not want to jeopardize my safety and comfort. Not necessarily physical safety, but more often emotional safety, or else the safety I feel from knowing everything that is going on around me.

Which leads me to the quote from Kris Vallotton that I posted above. I don’t want to have regrets while I’m here on earth. And I also don’t want to let any fears on my part keep me from achieving what I was put on this earth to do.

Do I have anything to add to my bucket list right now? No, I don’t. I’ve thought and prayed about it off and on since the interview, and I haven’t come up with anything. But I’ve also decided that I am not going to stay complacent. So, it looks like I will be adding another task (and eventually project) to Todoist…

Philippians 3:12-14 (MSG) I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.