How to Make a Real Bucket List? Get Busy Livin’

Name your top ten movies…in order, from 10 to 1. The criteria: films you can watch again and again, even though you know exactly what’s going to happen. I ask this question all the time. I’m always hoping someone will list a gem I haven’t heard of — something worth watching. But, more often than not, the lists are familiar. Predictable. The same movies that everybody loves.

One of the timeless classics that shows up again and again is The Shawshank Redemption — even three decades after its release.

Looks like Andy and Red stay friends

“Get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’.” That line comes from Red, the supporting character played by Morgan Freeman. Fun fact: In the original script, Red was Irish. And though there were no changes to the dialogue, Freeman’s casting added a quiet irony — when asked why he’s called Red, he still says, “Maybe it’s cuz I’m Irish.” Cute.

Andy, the main character played by Tim Robbins, was a role that Tom Hanks turned down. I guess he was busy working on that other film about a guy named Forrest Gump.

Get ready — because this July, we’ll be treated to The Shawshank Redemption 2. Freeman is nearly 90 years old. I, for one, am grateful he’s still “livin’,” because I’ve loved so many of his films — The Bucket List among them. His co-star in that one, Jack Nicholson, is also pushing 90. Those two likely checked off their bucket list items as quickly as they could think of them.

Then there’s the rest of us. Working hard to get the job, get the girl or the guy. Saving up to take the trip, to buy the house — maybe even to call it a home. Becoming a dad was on my list, and I’m still debating running a marathon.

Start With One Achievable Thing - It’ll Help You Keep Focused

But most of us put things on the bucket list because they take time and effort — and the cold, hard reality is that life might not be long enough, or the obstacles might be too many.

The obstacles, I’ve learned — and am still learning — aren’t always the ones placed upon us by circumstance. Sure, we’re shaped by what we’re born into. Our zip code, our genes, our luck — both good and bad. But then there are the obstacles we impose upon ourselves. Things we do. Things we regret.

Ask the smokers in the cancer clinic what they’d change. Ask the workaholics what they missed. Eventually, the mirror gets heavy, and the reflection gets honest.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you already know where I’m going with this.

It’s not about my opinion. It’s about the 184,000 people who can’t be wrong. Or the 500 just from today.  According to the CDC, we lose about 500 people a day — around 180,000 a year — to alcohol. For some, a “harmless” night ruined everything. For others, it was too many “harmless” nights that took their toll.

Don’t tell me you haven’t had some “harmless nights.” 

Nights where the drink was just a way to relax, to celebrate, to take the edge off. Nothing unusual. Until it was. Until it cost you something — an outfit, a paycheck, a phone, a friend, a relationship. Maybe something worse.  But you are still here.  I am still here.

Stats Don’t Lie

Unlike the 500 who won’t make it to tomorrow, we get another shot at it. Another chance to move gracefully in pursuit of a bucket list item. We didn’t end up behind bars like Andy in Shawshank, but many of us had to dig ourselves out — inch by inch, day by day — from a prison of our own making. The kind no one else could see.

In the movie, Red said hope is a dangerous thing. Later, Andy said it’s the best thing.

Hope is in breathing easier and sleeping deeper. It’s in laughing with my son — and meaning it. I still watch The Shawshank Redemption and don’t just enjoy it — I feel it. I understand what it means to be free. What it means to start over. What it means to make peace with my past and push forward, even when the tunnel feels too dark or too long.

Losing something important is sometimes what helps us start again. Losing everything — well, that sounds like the end of all ends.

So tonight, maybe put down the remote and write your own top tens. Not just movies — but moments. The ones you want to relive. The ones you haven’t lived yet. The ones you’ll never forget.

And if you’ve still got breath in your lungs, well…get busy livin’.

10. The Hunt for Red October

9. Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead

8. The Unforgiven

7. The Outlaw Josie Wales

6. Gladiator

5. The Godfather

4. The Lion King

3. Rocky

2. Vision Quest

1. A River Runs Through It