B1: Why I'm happy to share my (hopefully!) inspirational bucket list?

​Why am I sharing my bucket list? Well, this time two years ago, (November 2017) I left hospital after 177 days (25 weeks and 2 days). I had gone in with a pain in my right leg thinking I had a simple pulled muscle. However, I suffered a massive stroke and multiple organ failure. I was put on life support; close to death.

But I didn’t die! Somehow after 6 weeks of being unconscious I woke up. It was a huge shock to find myself paralysed down my right side, incontinent and fed through a tube. To add to my woes, chemo therapy was administered to tackle the auto-immune syndrome that was being held responsible for it all.....and I started losing my hair. 

But I had a huge amount of love and support around me. Friends and family all bolstered me up. The medical staff in the hospitals were superb. And I was lucky. Lucky that whenever I worked at the physio I could see progress…however small.

And that gave me hope. Little by little I re-learnt how to speak, how to sit up, how to stand, and ultimately how to walk. Other skills like reading, writing and memory came back later. 
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The Only Way is Up! (Shutterstock)

​So my focus for the last two years has been to get back as much as I can to health and fitness. I am so grateful for the help and support I’ve had. I know I could never have come this far on my own. I’ve always had things I wanted to see, places I wanted to go, goals I wanted to achieve. So now I’ve written them down in a formal Bucket List – things I’d like to do “before I kick the bucket”.

I’ve decided to now share my Bucket List blog to inspire others to start ticking off those boxes on your life to-do list. And now that I’m stronger I want to refocus myself on the things I still have as goals.  I also want to remind myself of the things I’ve done to date….and how blessed I am to be able to resume them.

I realise something important.  Long life is not a birth right.  Neither is good health. I, like most people, went through life assuming it stretched out ahead of me.  I thought I had all the time in the world to do the things I wanted. Well, the reality is we don’t. We only have NOW.  It’s not pessimistic or negative….in actual fact I’ve found it quite motivating. To stop myself saying “One day, I hope to …” ...and spur me on to do it NOW.
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"It takes all-sorts to make a world"

​What's in the Bucket List? Well, I must stress at the outset, this is MY bucket list. It may not be everyone’s “cup of tea”. I’m not sporty …a Marathon to me is a nutty chocolate bar!…and I’m not particularly adventurous. I won't be abseiling or skydiving!!  I’ve never been a gym “quads-illa" and my hamstrings are hamstrung.  But as my late mother used to say...."It takes all sorts to make a world”.  And I'm definitely an “All Sorts”!!

I must explain that my Bucket List is not EVERYTHING I want to do in life. Otherwise it might look a tad shallow and self-centred. (And very first world-ish - I know how lucky I am believe me). It doesn’t contain many of the family and friendship relationship or career goals that are important to me. These areas of my life are personal to me and I will not cover these in my blog. I plan to cover some travel, skills and experience goals of mine.  ​But I do hope my Bucket List helps you with ideas for YOUR Bucket List! Or at least gets you thinking about what you'd like to do.

Editorial credit: Shutterstock.com

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​So why name the Bucket List blog 80 b4 80? Well, my parents and grandparents were lucky to live well beyond 80. So I guess I hope to live beyond 80 fit and able, BUT never taking it for granted that a long life will be something I get to live. But if I do, I hope to have some great memories!  As for 80 things to do, in reality I have a thousand and one things I want to do.  But I can only type with 2 fingers after the stroke so 1,001 would take too long to write about.

And what's the Bucket List timeline? Some of the items I’ve already done. Some I’ve yet to do. So as such, I believe it should be of interest for young and not so young.  I am mid-50s now but plan on chipping away at the my Bucket List while I can.

Do you need to be loaded to do the Bucket List items? Well, some items on the list e.g. long haul travel ARE expensive.....but other experiences can be done on a shoestring. I guess you have to "cut your cloth to your measure"....but it's always good to have something to aim for or dream about until you’ve done it.

How often will I post? I plan to blog about the Bucket List items every second Tuesday....beginning on Dec 3rd (my late mother's birthday). I was a Tuesday’s Child. And I will tick the items off as I blog about them...not as I do them. So, your inbox or feed won’t be inundated with posts!

​You can always subscribe to my 80b480 Bucket List blog by sending me your email address (see below).  I will then send you a reminder email whenever there’s a new blog posted. Your email will be used for nothing else.

Finally, I'd love to hear if you have a bucket list?  How are you getting on with it?