A 60th Birthday Bucket List: One Woman’s Birthday Gift to Herself

One of my favorite writers just turned the tables on a birthday she was dreading. She figured out how to celebrate it her way.

Her goal?  "60 new experiences in the year after I turned 60."

Bonnie Miller Rubin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Chicago Tribune and a gal who has always done things on her own terms. She reports on mental health, adoption, health, child welfare and other family issues. It was no surprise to read her column in the paper today describing how she has tackled yet another life-cycle event with grace, humor and a great attitude.

In her column today, "60 chances to add more fire to life: Rather than dread my birthday, I'm celebrating it on my terms" she writes:

"I just had a big, fat, round birthday. And we all know birthdays that end with a zero are usually met with dread. This time around, I felt more of a sense of urgency. These markers force us to take stock, to recognize that time is speeding by and to ask: Am I using this precious commodity as well as I could be?

Like so many of you, I have spent a good chunk of my adult life tending to the needs of others — spouse, kids, parents, employers. In the blur of routines and to-do lists, I'd like to go back and pick up some of the pieces that I missed along the way, especially now that there is more sand in the bottom half of the hourglass than in the top."

Birthday Gift Ideas for Ourselves

Her goal: "60 new experiences in the year after I turned 60."

And there began her 60^th Birthday Bucket List.

It's a great list. She's going to "be a cuddler" and volunteer to hold preemies in the hospital; go kayaking; attend an opera; check out some Botox and rent a convertible, just to name a few!

I love this idea. We do take care of everybody else first. Why do we find it so hard to give ourselves anything - time, credit, praise, comfort, confidence? As usual, Bonnie is absolutely right. I'm already working on mine so I'll be ready for my next birthday. What about you? What's on your Birthday Bucket List? What birthday presents will you give yourself?