Have you made your bucket list?

This little guy came to me as a birthday gift. My froggy bank.
"Stash all your secrets in it." he'd said when giving it to me.
 Well, I had my diary for that. I knew what to do with this little froggy; it was going to hold my secret wish list. So that every day when I wake up and find its cute 'V'-smile and those rosey cheeks, I'm reminded of all the things that are left to be done.

Remember the time when we were kids and we told people how we'd grow up and make the world a better place? And then we grew up and discovered that it wasn't as easy as it seems. And remember when we grew into a teen later and dreamt of having all the fun we could possibly have in our lifetime? And then...oh well...I'm not sure about what follows next because I'm presently in the same phase.

Surely, we've all had those round table discussions with our buddies about our bucket lists. All the travel destinations from Louvre Palace to Machu Pichu...all those adventures from sky diving to snorkelling...all those people to meet from our favourite author to the favourite band...and all the things to do from getting a tattoo to running a marathon or writing a book...

Every now and then I'd tell my froggy bank of my new found wishes. And then one day someone asked if I'd ever done any of it yet. I began having a flashback of all the good times of the past. I was beginning to say I did, and that's when I realized something.  That I'd done and gotten much more than what I'd imagined.

This list that I continue to make is all about what I long for; what I might do much later in life. It could simply be a bundle of fantasies I crave for and will laugh at and sigh in the future. Because it tells of all that hasn't happened so far, and all that needs to be done. But what it did not tell, was about all the things that has already happened, the things I haven't wished for.

That's when I noticed that even though plenty more was left to be done, life had its way of surprising us with things we never dreamed of. And when we're busy in pursuit of our secret wish list, we may not value enough the pleasures and surprises showered upon us on the way. If only we look at all that we've had so far filtering off the worries, we'd notice how extraordinary our lives have been.

As I sat there with a piece of paper to jot down yet another spontaneous wish that came across my mind, I was reminded of all the adventures that I'd had so far.

What are our lives without our wish lists? To have a dream is what keeps us going. Else, it is a mere survival, and to live, survival does not suffice. Now as the piece of paper gave me a 'blank' stare, I knew what to write. Enough of junketing around with wild ideas. I'd missed out something more important - to pay back the ones who've mentored us. My happiness, I owed to them. And to give them a dream-come-true experience for themselves, was going to be another one of my wishes.

 Remember the time when we were kids and we were going to make the world a better place? Maybe it isn't so hard after all, as long as our world is but the circle of well wishers we cannot live without. Because these gestures of love are enough to make it a better world.

So have you made your bucket list yet? If you haven't, do so right away. And when you embark on your journey ahead, do remember to look out for the surprises life bestows upon you, and also to plant smiles on the faces of your loved ones on the way.

Once upon a dream

He stood there, leaning lazily over the parked bus, making small talk with his guy friends. I was holding my friend's arm, I don't recall whose. She was telling me something, but I wasn't listening to her. My eyes were busy scanning the crowd. They shifted from one person to the next, searching...

Lost in the disarray,

Alone, searching for thee

Finally, my eyes met his, and they settled down, now at peace. His eyes bore into mine and mine into his...lost in a trance. His lips curled into a slow smile. A smile that brought jitters in my stomach, a smile that made my heart skip a beat. I felt my own lips curve into a smile, knowing that it came right out of my heart. 

I watched as he took small, smooth steps towards me...and I hoped my racing heartbeat wasn't too loud. Everything else around us dissolved as he extended his lean, slender hand over to me. I felt my hand rise and  land itself on his own, and the tiny fingers fit into his warm and gentle grip. 

He said nothing, and neither did I, for our eyes had spoken enough. And slowly we moved, our paces in harmony. Everything else was a blur. All I could see was an endless road ahead, unknown and mysterious. But I knew I was ready for the quest, for anything...because I was happy, I was safe....and I was me. 

For dear, you are my world,

Thus steady now are mine eyes.

Our locked hands hung loosely, and then I remembered what he'd told me one day, a very long while ago, "It's you and me against  the world, so when do we attack? "

The very thought made me flush, and I found myself suppressing a grin. So on and on we walked to eternity.......until the angels from heaven descended to awaken me from my dream.

I sat up in my bed, bewildered. No way. No no no! Oh shit, there was no use dodging the obvious fact. I did have a crush on him after all. My bestie was right all along. 

I sat there, replaying the whole dream over and over again. Little did I know then, that some dreams do come true.