I started drafting this list on my 37th birthday. You can view the original post: HERE. I was inspired by a couple of other bucket lists I was creating during the BlogAhead challenge. It inspired me to create a list specific to myself. I took a little time to create a list of well-thought-out things I’d like to accomplish in the next twelve years.

50 Before 50

1. Write a book (The Ember Stone 2021)
2. Publish a book (The Ember Stone 2022)
3. Do a Scotland/Ireland tour
4. Learn a new language: Spanish (Fall 2019 completed a course for Beginner’s Spanish. Limited vocab, but not fluent.)
5. Grow my blog following to 1000 (April 2021)
6. Visit Hawaii
7. Grow my hair to the small of my back and then cut and donate it (February 2018)
8. Write a book for my boys. (In the works as of 2023; the working title is “The Funny Side.”)
9. See a shark breach
10. Publish a few articles and/or short stories (2016, 2017, 2018…)
11. Growing my writing/author platforms (ongoing)
12. Try a new food, something fun, cultural and exotic (ongoing – Gajar Ka Halwa also known as Indian Pudding . . .)
13. Visit Alaska, perhaps on a cruise
14. Finish writing The Ember Files Trilogy and at least one side story (Book 4 published in 2024)
15. Be debt-free or very close to it (mortgages only 2020)
16. Downsize and maintain it (started in 2017, did my books in 2018, knick-knacks 2019, 2020 boy’s clothes/toys/books, 2021 my craft supplies, 2022 storage area under the stairs, and so it continues on a little bit every year . . . In 2024, it became a downsize goal for retirement and we started with the garage and dog supplies.)
17. Buy a summer or vacation property (inherited 2021)
18. Reach and maintain a goal weight, somewhere between 130 – 135 (December 2018)
19. Start a new family tradition (December 2016, Christmas and another in December 2017, 2019 started Family Friday night movie night)
20. Return to the island and resort that my husband and I got married at (March 2019)
21. Create a retirement business and be close to opening it if not launched already (2021 I made a conscious effort to start growing my career as an author and by 2022 I published my first novel. Writing Sparkle Books opened in 2023 for book coaching and editing services. A & O Cottage Rentals opened in 2023.)
22. Retire as an RCMP
23. Visit the Bahamas
24. Run a ½ marathon (Feb 2018 – just over 2 hours)
25. Write an epic fantasy (idea is forming with a named main character, 2024)
26. Re-read my favourite novels (started in 2024 with Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Dawn and Secrets of the Morning.)
27. Make sure my boys and husband know how much they mean to me everyday (Everyday)
28. Do a really big road trip (August 2017 & 2018)
29. See the Florida Everglades
30. Tell my story: memoirs (November 2016 NaNoWriMo; chunks blogged)
31. Start writing another fantasy series (world-building for The Sparkling Bitches started in 2024, but the idea happened in 2023)
32. Plan how I would like to spend my day when I turn 50
33. Visit Salem Massachusetts in October, perhaps for Halloween
34. Become an expert at something (May 2018 Subject Matter Resource Family Violence and still study/work in that area as of 2021)
35. Forgive **  “It eventually gets better, without any sort of explanation; one day you just realize that you’re no longer upset. You’re no longer mad, hurt, or bothered by the things that took so much of your energy and thoughts. You will find yourself in a peaceful place and enjoy that feeling.” – Word Porn
36. Learn more about yoga
37. Go to a Nickelback and/or Pink concert
38. Learn to give Tarot readings (Deck purchased in 2023, just learning the deck now)
39. Sleep somewhere rumoured to be haunted, perhaps some kind of haunted tour
40. Doing an Ancestry DNA Kit (2021)
41. Visit as much of Canada as I can (As of 2022 I need to visit Newfoundland and Nunavut still.)
42. See a comic performing live (November 2023, we went to see Jeff Dunham)
43. Make myself a priority (Ongoing – Me Time is an active part of my wellness plan, coffee self-talk)
44. Visit a castle
45. Find ways to celebrate and make us (me and my husband a priority) (Things like lunch dates, walks, movie nights, game nights. . .)
46. Go on a girl’s trip
47. Swim in the hot springs (August 2017, 2018 and any time after that I got a chance)
48. Educate me about the world of writing and publishing (ongoing)
49. Get another dog (June 2017)
50. Update and repost this at age 45 and again at 50 marking my age or the date beside each accomplishment

I created and posted this list in 2017. Over the years, I have updated it a few times. Now here we are with me checking off part of the list’s number 50—reposting at 45. It’s interesting to see how things have changed. I wondered as I reviewed the list, what makes a bucket list successful? Is it actually completing every item on the list or is being happy with the things you have accomplished, whether on the list or not, and acknowledging that things change and we change too?

By Shari Marshall – 2024