Yes, I understand any normal person has thought of things that they would like to put on their list… you know, all the activities you would like to participate in before you, well… kick the bucket. Although there are many things in my life I would like to do, I know that some of those things are unreasonable because of my Parkinson’s disease. Now, I can gather that some of you might be saying, “But Perky what about when you said that you can do anything you put your mind to?” Yes, I did say that but with modifications.
Modifications
Need an example? Let’s say number 3 on my bucket list is I want to go on a trip to Costa Rica, to volunteer at a sloth sanctuary… my spirit animal, where I will meet and fall in love with Xavier, a local resident who works at the rescue. We will spend a whole summer playing with sloths and feeding each other fruit. No judgment. This is my bucket list.
I understand that due to my Parkinson’s. This is an impossible activity to plan to do before I die. But a girl can dream… longing sigh. Sorry, I lost myself for a moment. But I can modify my goals to make them manageable. I take the main idea from my list, and which is traveling to hanging out with sloths… and I did that by traveling to the San Diego Zoo and petting a sloth and I ended up getting a fruit smoothie that day too. Do you see?! I can do anything using a modification.
Many of you know that I have a quirky way of looking at the world. The way my mind works, I think what it would look like if I had an anti-bucket list. You know, things that I want to avoid at all costs. Well, it took some brainstorming, but I gathered some thoughts, and here’s what I came up with…
Take a Parkinson’s drug holiday
There are some who believe that stopping all Parkinson’s medications for an extended amount of time gives your body a chance to “detox” from the effects of L-Dopa. As for me, I can’t imagine at this stage of my disease stopping medications. It would lower my quality of life and I will avoid it like the bubonic plague.
Stop exercising
Like I’ve said before if I told you there was a pill that you could take that would improve your mood, body movements, and even your digestion… I bet you’d be heading to the pharmacy right now. Well, you have the prescription already… it’s exercise. Movement is life.
Living in a world with no sweet treats
This makes me tearful if I really think about it. A world without desserts. That would be my apocalypse… the end of sugar would destroy me on a catastrophic level. Ok, maybe I am a little dramatic, but I can’t see happiness without my Fro Yo.
Let energy parasites drain me
It’s the type of people who latch onto you that feed off your positive energy, draining you till there’s nothing left. You can’t tell me that you don’t have any “Debbie Downers” in your life who l just secretes negative sludge and suck any happiness out of you?
Be a contestant on “Naked and Afraid”
Naked and Fraid is a show about a couple of survivalists that are partnered together and dropped into challenging environments like the Amazon, or Ecuador. They have to survive for 14 days, naked with only 1 personal item that they can bring to help them make it. Most people would opt for a machete or a fire starter. If I was on that show, I would last about an hour. For my personal item, I would bring wet wipes, because have you ever had to go to the bathroom in the jungle?
Now it’s your turn…. What do you have on your bucket list, or flip the script and what is on your anti-bucket list?
Welllll, I’ve always wanted to go to Scotland and see a hot guy in a kilt and hear him speak with a Scottish brogue (I understand that typically refers more to an Irish accent but it sounds so much better than “accent”).
Modification-
Wrap a Tartan like blanket from our family room around my hot husband and have him learn how to speak like a Scotsman. He could say,
A’m waantin’ tae vacuum ‘n’ wash yer dishes.
MODIFY PEOPLE!
Peace,
I love it!
O but trouble follows me for some reason my ropininole med is very hard to find with the manufacture Activa I can’t seem to get a script for this over a month now! Is this fair treatment to arbitrarily change to another brand and have side effects that you can’t accept so what’s a person to do? I still don’t have a resolve! After speaking to express scripts said they would help me. So as of today I have one pill left! The. What??? Stay tuned!
Diane, that sounds awful. Hopefully something gets cleared up.
I don’t think Parkinson’s is the reason you can’t plan to meet a man named Xavier at a local animal sanctuary in Costa Rica. Somewhere in there fruit is involved. Call it a hunch. Everyone knows the best place to meet someone is at the grocery store. The other person likes to eat and stay at home. Perfection. Plus they have candy and ice cream there whether it works out or not. These are the thoughts I think in the middle of the night, Smitty.
Meh to bucket lists. It just sets you up for disappointment. I do sense you are a planner. I suggest trying it my way. Use the compulsive Parky behavior to your advantage. I signed up for Eroica California last night. No thinking. Just doing. It’s fun.
Thank you, Perkie Parky for ALWAYS being positive & uplifting!
I too have negative parasites on my anti-bucket list. I don’t want to associate with people who are always pessimistic and can only see the negative in everything. I have a gentleman in my boxing class who is always complaining about having PD. However, he is vastly outnumbered by those who refuse to look at what they have lost or can no longer do. Instead, they are joyful about what they can still do. These people lift me up and remind me how fortunate I am. It’s one reason I follow you!
John, thank you for keeping up with my blog!