Turning twenty-five was another momentous birthday. But the thrill of that 'quarter of a century' milestone quickly wore off, and I feared I would be stuck in a life I wasn't super excited about. Mostly, I was incredibly lonely and afraid for the future as I got progressively older than the available men around me. Thankfully, Jake entered my life the very next month, and, well, you know how that went!
Today's twenty-seventh birthday wasn't anything thrilling. No big milestone, no significant change in daily life. I worked most of the day, and I've got a giant volcanic zit hanging out on my forehead. Which I 100% edited out in the below photo.
But my sweet husband had a gorgeous bouquet of white ranunculus and roses delivered to the front desk of the operating room, and I walked past it as many times as possible to remind myself how dang lucky I am.
I always treat my birthday as an opportunity to reflect on the past year, and work on goals for the coming year. But as I sat in a surgical case today browsing articles on Pinterest (which is currently articles on simplicity, minimalism, and happiness, considering Pinterest mostly shows you pins similar to the ones you've been pinning lately) when I came across a woman who doesn't set goals for herself every birthday, but makes a Bucket List! I thought, what a great way to look at it. Setting goals means potential failure, but a Bucket List?! If I don't accomplish a few items, they can go on next year's list, no problem! As an additional motivator to get them done this year, I'm sharing the list with you! All two of you!
Courtney's 27th Year Bucket List
- Travel light
- Take on more responsibility at work
- Work harder on maintaining friendships
- Eat healthy
- Live more mindfully
- Forget my phone more often
- Curate a wardrobe that is more 'Me'
- Declutter at least 20% of our stuff
- Let go of FOMO
- Read 27 books
- Cut off excess spending aka make a budget
- Camp/ explore/ hike frequently
The woman who inspired me had 28 items for her 28th birthday, but I couldn't even begin to think of 27 things I could be consistently working on and improving, so this list will be just fine for me.
How about you? Is your birthday a time to reflect, or do you just save that for New Year's Eve?
Happy Unbirthday to you!
~Courtney
