Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn, leaving us on a path where our old goals, dreams, and bucket list no longer show up on the map. This past year, my ongoing symptoms received a name: fibromyalgia. The exercises that ease my neck’s nerve compression often trigger flare-ups instead. My neck and upper back feel like they are hardening into a coat of armor, bringing migraines and making long travel unbearable. My vision board shifted from canoeing, backpacking, and fostering to simply surviving the day without a headache.
Years ago in a Soul Matters group, we were invited to write our life story using a reverse bucket list. We set out buckets with labels like relationships I’m grateful for, moments of wonder, places I’ve traveled, and things I’m proud of. Filling them shifted our focus to gratitude for the life we’re living. I’m not trying to reframe or only focus on positives, I am just stating a fact as I review my buckets: I am living an amazing life.
Illness, betrayal, and grief can alter our lives instantly. Autumn in the Northwoods reminds us that change, though beyond our control, can include beauty. A reverse bucket list pairs naturally with this season, inviting reflection as we move into the thin time of year.
“And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”
Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
Sending abundant blessings to you in this season of change, in whatever season of life you are journeying through,
Rev. Stacy