Bucket List

Ever since the 2007 movie brought the phrase into the vernacular, the question has been posed almost to the point of cliché: “What’s on your bucket list?”

In other words, what do we want to achieve before paying our debt to Mother Nature? What personal accomplishments will stave off the dreaded notion of regret? What can we do to give our lives value, and can anybody judge our success?

That notion of value is explored directly and indirectly throughout our November issue. The headline posed in Trent Collier’s fascinating piece, “How Much Are You Worth?” begs the question: How can we quantify the unique and individual experiences that comprise each of us in our quest to add checkmarks to our “list”? Who is worth more: the well-heeled, well-traveled sophisticate, or the hasn’t-seen-the-light-of-day-in-years cat lady? (Spoiler: Beware of the so-called expert witness who answers definitively.)

I suspect that, like most, the point of creating a bucket list isn’t to “value-add” but rather to bring focus to what can be a paralyzing number of paths to personal fulfillment. Follow your curiosity and, wherever it takes you, you’re guaranteed to be richer for the experience.

Personally, I’m taking some advice from this month’s “In the C-Suite” interviewee, Medmarc’s Chief Claims Officer Cindy Khin, who suggests taking a snowmobile trip through Yellowstone. Like her, I’m also a nature-lover, so she had me at “I saw an eagle eating a duck 20 feet away from me.” Add it to the list.