When is the most ideal time to create an ultimate bucket list or itemize things one wants accomplished or fulfilled before he himself goes to meet his Maker?
If you watched the poignant comedic movie "Bucket List," starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freemen, they decided to make the most of what's left of their time. Being terminally ill was not actually to be taken to mean it's a death sentence but rather more of a deadline.
In the denouement, it is, after all, all about approaching the light with acceptance and an open mind. Hence, fulfilling the things they wanted done was more like work to be accomplished within a given time frame.
Do we really have to wait until we know we are about to die before achieving life's targets?
Longevity Incentive
With the average life expectancy in the Philippines for 2024, according to the United Nations demographic studies, as 71.79 years, should we make our bucket list when nearing the end of line?
Filipinos are getting more health conscious now that this beats the 2021 figure of 71.41 years.
More and more Filipinos are aging and it is a commendable move for the government to give due recognition to the elderly.
In the Expanded Senior Citizens Act or Republic Act 11982, President Marcos affirmed that those who reach 100 years are granted the Centenarian or Longevity Gift of P100,000 while cash incentives to those in the 80, 85, 90, and 95 age marks get P10,000.
As of early this year, the government has bestowed on 12,000 recipients of the P100K grant from 2017 to 2023.
While Congress approved granting P1 million to those who have reached 101 years, it has yet to be implemented.
Quality Life
Our bucket list, in my opinion, should include leading a quality life and do better once we reach the old-age bracket.
This is our supplication for our mom, Doña Rosario Sevillano Aclan, who is turning 102 in October this year.
Even is ambulant and relatively healthy (Thank, God!), she is already manifesting signs of dementia that doctors said "come of age."
Still cognitive and recognizes us, all of her 12 children, there are times when her mind meanders. From time to time, our Inay hankers to perform her usual routine —cooking, walking to church, which is a few blocks away, and visiting our father's resting place which is about five miles away.
We, her children, want for her to lead a happy and stress-free years of what's left of life.
We are fortunate to still have our Inay around as some barely reached the 60s, the cut off line to senior years.
The elderly deserve all the respect and tribute. It is inspiring to see aging folks turn centenarians. They become models of the future of aging.
What if they are no longer healthy and become insufferably ill? Would we aspire for our older folks to be around just to aim for the P100k?
I doubt if every centenarian's life could get any better to enjoy the benefits of P100k.
This amount is a great help for maintenance medicines and upkeep but, without being very cynical about it, can the one-time gratuity buy them comfort and contentment until the last days?
Just A Click Away
April is my birth month and in just a few years time I, myself, will be a septuagenarian. I composed my bucket list when I reached 50 and only half had been accomplished at this point.
One very significant item I never failed is "To celebrate and spend my birthday each year with my parents in California."
Even if our patriarch, Atty. Isidoro A. Aclan, have crossed the Great Beyond in December of 2018, I fulfilled this item with our Inay until last year, 2023.
This year, I was physically with my children in Canada but saw to it that, on my special day, we were on a long video call party with Inay. This is the age when all are just a click away.
Bucket List Suggestions
For me, the most ideal time to constitute your bucket list is a few years before preparing for retirement.
I suggest to include in list achievable plans you ought to have done or imagined doing, like: travel to places you've always wanted to go; get a second career; learn a new language; start a new business; take up a new hobby or challenging sports, like arts, music, dancing, fishing, golf, surfing, for instance, and be diligent with it; stay fit and achieve your ideal weight; take time out with friends; connect with schoolmates; visit relatives, dead or alive, etc. Don't forget to include a timeline.
To sum it all up, list activities that will make you happy, whole and in high spirits and fulfill most, if not all, of these long before you "kick the bucket."
(email opinyon.luchie@gmail.com or luchiearguelles@yahoo.com)
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