Two years ago when Brett and I created our pre-baby bucket list, I honestly had no idea if we would do any of it. Not because we weren’t dedicated to the cause….but sometimes when you have really good ideas, they don’t always come into fruition. Life gets in the way. Money isn’t there. Schedules are too busy.
I’ve had plenty of ideas that didn’t exactly pan out.
All that being said, I try really hard to be a doer, and not a sayer. One of the good (and bad) things about having a blog is that it holds you accountable. If I constantly blog about how I’m working on my patience, but never put that into real life practice, what does that make me? If I post a list of things to accomplish before I have a baby but never do any of them, what does that say about me? Often it’s all too easy to get caught up in the art of verbalizing your hopes and dreams through bold statements, especially in a public forum such as this.
{ Speaking of which, now would probably be a good time to mention that I didn’t make it past day 17 of my dairy-free challenge. I’m sorry. To be honest, the first few days were great and I even thought my skin was clearing up. But then day 6-17 happened, and all improvements stopped. I also became very cranky, and very annoyed and frustrated at how hard it was to find something to eat. I might try it again someday, but for now, I’m back on the cheese. }
Where was I?
Oh yes. On being a doer and not just a sayer.
Our pre-baby bucket list was easily said. We scribbled down fifteen items in ten minutes and it was posted here shortly after. Over time I’ve received more and more positive feedback about it, and “pre-baby bucket list” became the number one search term that people use to find my blog. It’s funny how just knowing that people were reading the list made me want to do it that much more. As Brett and I started crossing items off one by one, friends and family members and blog readers alike began cheering us on from the sidelines. It really kicked my (and our?) motivation into high gear.
As it stands today, Brett and I have crossed seven out of fifteen items off the list. We were audience members at The Tonight Show (team CoCo for life), spent weekends with each of our living sets of grandparents, gambled in Vegas, went to Disneyland, saw Cirque de Soleil, took a cooking class together, and last but certainly not least, traveled to Greece.
Today, we are hopping in the car for our first official road trip (number twelve!), as we head to Oregon and Washington for a long weekend with friends. Yesterday we booked our flights to New York to a) see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center (number eleven!) and b) ring in the new year in Times Square (number two!). I am so, so excited.
Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what the past two years would have looked like if Brett and I had never made our list. Would we have done any of that? Would we have gone to Greece?! What if I had never posted the list here? Would it be sitting in a messy drawer somewhere? Completely abandoned and forgotten about?
Of course I’d like to think no, and that my inner desire to go to Greece (among other things) was strong enough to make it happen. But to be honest, I’m not so sure.
So thank you dear friends and family members and blog readers. Thank you for reading the list, and for being listeners when we were just sayers. Thank you for encouraging us to be doers. When I imagine Brett and I as parents, I always picture us telling our children about the list, and all the special things we did together while it was just the two of us.
There is a lot of power in saying, in believing.
Saying is good.
But doing is better.
Let’s all DO something this week.
Me? I bought plane tickets to New York yesterday.
Now it’s your turn. Go.