It could be as silly as a lost toy. Or as heartbreaking as a forever person. There is truth in the philosophy that sometimes it takes the loss of something to recognize its value. But the instigator in me can’t help but challenge this particular truth to a dual. So to you, truth, I stick my wagging tail in the air and dare you to chase me. 
Because it’s there. The elephant in the room. The meaning behind the ideology. The real truth. Appreciate what you have while you have it and you won’t have to worry so much when it’s gone. It’s why I didn’t use to believe in bucket lists. They seemed to morbid, too sad and too real all at the same time. But that’s because I had it all wrong. A bucket list shouldn’t be something you put together only when you get horrible news. It shouldn’t be squeezed into the last few precious days, months, or years of life. No. A bucket list should be lived.
I turn six people years old next month. That’s approximately 42 in people years. I’m no spring chicken anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be young at heart. Just as it’s never too late to dream big, I realized today that there is nothing morbid about a bucket list if it’s put together for the right reasons. So today I put mine out there, in writing, for the world to see. Not because I’m dying, but because I’m living. The future starts now.
A Bucket List – Wiley C. Schmidt
1) Publish a book
2) Eat a hot dog (with ketchup and a bun)
3) Meet a celebrity advocate for animals (maybe Ellen? Or Ian Somerhalder?)
4) Go on a blind date
5) Run a marathon with mom
6) Meet and properly train my doggie replacement in the Schmidt family
7) See a movie at the theater
8) Attend a sporting event
9) Travel to Tennessee (I hear it’s beautiful there)
10) Have a steak dinner with my people
11) Watch the sunset over Lake Michigan
12) Master a trademark trick
13) Become a best friend to a little person
14) Swim in a lake
15) Ride in a fire truck
Wiley's Wisdom 