Today, I bring you a sponsored post, presented by Just Ask with Today’s Mama. Until now, I have declined sponsored post inquiries. So, why did I say yes to the one? Three reasons: A) I like the sponsors’ missions and this campaign B) They gave me a fun, paid assignment C) I have the awesome job of awarding one of YOU with a new dslr camera! TRUE. Read on.
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Since Steve Jobs died, his 2005 Stanford commencement address has been flying around the internet. I love that speech. I love one sentiment in particular:
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
What a wonderful gift, our life span. I was talking about this with a friend (the same friend I hugged on a mountain last week) and she said, “Seriously, we could live for 200 years like a tortoise or 15 years like a dog but we have THIS life span that allows us to accomplish so very much over the course of many decades; our lives, however, are still short enough and fragile enough that we can’t take a single moment for granted.”
You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Just Ask has tasked us to develop and share our bucket lists. What do we hope to accomplish and achieve during this fragile, important life? They have developed a test—the BRACAnalysis test—that empowers us with information about our risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Just Ask wants us to live a long, full life, one where we have the opportunity to cross items off our lists.
OK, a few things I’d like to do, see and experience before I kick the bucket (it was so fun to create this list!).
1. Get my hands on a camper van, pile my family in it and head south for a many month adventure through Central and South America.
2. Cook every recipe I inherited from my grandma’s recipe box with my kids.
3. Relearn French (I was pretty proficient at one time!)
4. Write a book.
5. See my children graduate from the college of their choice without a pile of debt.
6. Go behind the vault door of the San Francisco institution to view the work of my Great Grandfather Cornelius Philip (a medical entomologist, he founded the cure for the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever).
7. Travel to India.
8. Suck it up and harvest my own meat (or suck it up and go back to being vegetarian)
9. Volunteer with my family for a social justice organization in a third world country.
10. Swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
11. Retire on the early side, live frugally, travel, make art and recreate with my husband for many years.
12. Take an artisan bread making class.
13. Ride a horse running at full gallop.
14. Witness James Turrell’s Roden Crater.
15. Make a quilt for each of my daughters (I started Margot’s two years ago!).
Your turn.
Share your list on TodaysMama.com and have a shot at winning a pretty awesome trip. The grand prizes are: a family vacation to Universal Orlando Resort, a Las Olas Surf Camp Safari and Ski Lessons and stay at Park City Mountain Resort. This contest closes on Saturday, November 12. All the deets over at TodaysMama.com.
And! Thanks to the sponsor, one reader will WIN a Canon Rebel XS Camera! Simply leave me a comment sharing an item from your bucket list. For another entry, like Just Ask on Facebook, come back and leave another comment letting me know you did. Winner will be randomly selected November 15.
EDITED TO ADD: **Many are having trouble leaving comments! Please double check to be sure your comment posts. Copy it before you post. You may have to try twice. Sorry for the pain, not sure what is up.**
OK, chickens. I’ll end with a Wayne Gretzky quote that I love:
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Thanks, Just Ask! I’ll be back with nuggets in a day or two. xo
small print (to be read really fast in a low voice): This is a sponsored giveaway. Just Ask offers a breast and ovarian cancer screening and is encouraging people to share 15 things the want to enjoy in my lifetime as a reminder to be aware of their health.
