It was in April of last year when I started to form my bucket list: a compilation of about 30 things that I want to do before I die.

I started listing things like “visit China,” “run a half and full marathon” and “jump into Lake Erie in the middle of winter.”

As I was on one of my runs this weekend I was wondering whether my bucket list was a good idea.

Sure, having goals in life is great; I have so many that I probably couldn’t name them all if I tried. However, I question the value of having such a list.

I made my list so that I could imagine and look forward to a life filled with adventure and bliss.

But then I began to wonder what would happen if I were to not complete that list.

Would I feel like I missed out on parts of my life? Would I feel like my life lost a sense of meaning?

As Confucius said, “Life is very simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

This is fitting because by making a list of things that we would like to achieve, are we not making things complicated?

I think that overly planning is a huge issue in our country. We need to plan on days to visit friends and family or plan on saving money to take a trip somewhere.

What happened to the days when you could just show up at someone’s house and it would be perfectly acceptable for you to be there?

It’s truly a shame that nearly 75 percent of my bucket list consisted of needing to save up thousands of dollars to make myself happy.

So I threw out that list. Money does not dictate my happiness, so why should I let it dictate the things I want to do before I die?

I decided instead, to act more spontaneously. In a world of planning, I’m finding it rarer to be able to do what I want. Sure that comes along with going to school and working, but it still drives me crazy.

Anyways, the point I just wanted to get across, is why not open your life up and let the adventure come to you? I honestly believe that life is what you make it; if your life is an everlasting to-do list, you are doing it wrong.

So, since you chose to go to Mercyhurst, land of opportunity and service, why not take advantage of it and do something new?

If you open yourself up more, allow more diversity into your world, perhaps then your “bucket list” will come to you.