Breakfast of Champions

At the end of the Q&A with astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield last night, a woman in the front asked him, "What, if anything, is left on your bucket list?" And Chris' response was phenomenal. I wish I'd recorded it, but lacking that ability, here is my best paraphrasing of what he said:

"I don't believe in bucket lists. I mean, the mere idea of a bucket list seems like a millstone dragging around someone's neck. Who wants to walk around with a mainly empty bucket all of the time? It would be like going trick or treating and having a bucket with like three pieces of candy in it the whole time. Depressing.

I choose to live my life in such a way that I celebrate all of the victories. I got out of bed this morning and thought to myself, "Hey, good job! You got out of bed today! I win!" I looked out the window and the sun was shining and it wasn't snowing. Another win. I sat down to my favorite breakfast of Cheerios and skim milk (henceforth to be known in the Duncan household as "The Chris Hadfield Special"). By the time it was 9 am I felt like I had already had a great day. I'd already won.

I don't want to be the person who lives each day going, "Aw man, I'm awful, I haven't even climbed Everest yet." I'm going to take every victory no matter how small and consider each one a "win." Who wants to base their success on whether or not they've been to Machu Picchu yet? 

So, to answer your question, sure, there are more things I want to do. Long-term goals. But I don't base my happiness or self worth on whether or not I accomplish them."