Today’s a Great Day For a Check Mark

One of my seven-year-olds, Finn, recently handed me a piece of paper. It was a list of items with little squares to the left of them. "What's this, bud?" "This is my bucket list." Uhhhhhh, my seven-year-old has a bucket list? Curious, I asked him if he knew what a bucket list even was. "It's all the things I want to do before I die!" Alrighty then, I guess he did know.....that's a bit morbid The subsequent two sentences out of his mouth were what got me:

"Can we check a few of these off the list this weekend? We better get started."

I didn't know whether to be concerned or impressed; I decided to be impressed. Here he was, with his entire life in front of him, ready to live life now. Not someday. Not down the road. Not when he grows up. Today!

Wow, there's something profound about this idea. We adults continually kick the can down the road. "When I retire." "When the kids are gone." "When I have $x dollars." "When I get promoted to abc title." "After I accomplish xyz." "When I'm not as busy." "When ________." We always have an excuse not to do things. There are a million reasons why today isn't the day. Someday. One day. Eventually. Down the road. Confession: I could jot down a list of 20 items that I've wanted to do for decades, but just never got around to it.

You know what I think? I think today is a great day for a check mark. Why not get out there and knock something off your list? Why not treat today like a special day that should be embraced and milked for whatever it could be? Why not intentionally pursue meaning and do things that add value to our lives? Why not cut through the noise and the busy of life, and carve out time to make a memory?

"Wise" isn't a word I'd typically use to describe Finn (he's a nut), but I think he's on to something.

We better get started.