My Response to the Bucket List Challenge
I was nominated by 
I am writing this introduction after I actually created the below bucket list. It turns out that I have opened myself up in this post like never before in my life. In fact, as I said I did not have any such list. This turned out to be a much more serious list than I initially set out to create.
This is a great challenge and an eye-opener for me, not just a mere game.
To play music
I have always wanted to play the guitar and the piano. I have given a shot at learning the guitar a number of times but each time I tried, I failed because I quit. I want to do this, I don't know when but I definitely want to learn to play the guitar. Once I achieve that feat, I will learn to play the piano as well.
To build a personal library and read to the end of my times
I read a lot. I find peace in books. I want to have a cozy mid-sized room with all its walls covered with bookshelves full of books. And in that room, I want to grow old. Sit down and read in the red afternoons of my life.
What a beautiful dream, a dream which I share with my wife. She also has this same dream. We want to build this library together and have all our books including my years of National Geographic stacked up in those racks on the walls.
To grow things
Oh, how much would I love to garden? I grew up in a tea garden, playing in my father and mother's garden. Life has brought me to a busy Indian metropolis. I live a busy life in an apartment in a city without gardens and few trees. I want to go back to my roots. Grow a little garden. Watch the saplings grow and the flowers bloom.
To go on culture trips
I want to see the whole wide world. There's so much out there. My trips now are short visits quickly trying to cover the top tourist attractions in the interest of time. But that's not how you see the world! You have to go and not see places, but live them. If you truly want to know a place, you have to give it time.
I so want to visit some of the beautiful European countries and Pacific islands and take my time living in those places for weeks or months. This is something me and my wife always talk about and someday perhaps we will be able to do something like this.
It would cost a lot of money and I don't know if this would ever become possible. But what's the harm in dreaming?
To write
I want to write good stories. I hope my journey here on Steemit is a start. I don't know if I am a good writer, but I would like to tell stories. Stories of people and places. This is a tough one as not all stories are well written or loved by readers. But it's worth a shot, isn't it?
To start trading the markets, seriously
Many people do this on and off. I have also done it on and off. Many people do it regularly but have no clue of what they are doing. I have read so many books on quantitative trading over the last couple of years. All I need to do is to dedicate some serious time into this passion of mine and I think I will start to see good results.
This is one of the top priority items in my list now and is something I would like to start doing successfully before this year ends.
To buy a house with a garden in the front and back
I don't like apartments. They have their benefits and advantages. They are hassle free in today's fast life. But we would love to have a house, a bungalow with a front porch where we will sit down and see the sun going down as we grow old. A garden in the front and a yard in the back. Boy, this is an expensive thing to have on the list in my country.
To take my mother to see places
We were never rich. My father had a small job and my parents did a great job of raising two kids given our lower-income background. They gave us an education and a positive outlook towards life. But in the process, they almost did nothing for themselves. I want to take my mother on trips that she could not make when she was young. I want to make her feel young again and fulfilled. This I will do.
To see my younger brother become hugely successful in life
My brother always wanted to be a footballer. He put in so much effort into practicing and improving his game. So much so that he never focused on his studies. He wanted to play for the big clubs in India. Just when his dreams were starting to take shape and he had started to sign for the smaller clubs, he sustained a knee injury from which he never fully recovered. It ruined his career.
He was heartbroken and is not the same person as he was. His life is now that of struggle, he puts in a lot of effort in his job. I want to help him out in a way that makes it a little easier for him to succeed in his business and life. I wish him all the success in life.
To earn a healthy living without having to do a job
The last but not the least. In fact, this is perhaps the most important one in this list which is why it is at number one. A lot of the things which are in my list is dependent on me being able to achieve this. The amount of time and energy my job requires will never allow me to pursue the things I want to do.
People may say that you can always take out some time and plan things out, but man it doesn't work out that way. At least not for me. This is the biggest and most important thing I want to be able to do someday. But in order to be able to do this, a few other things on my bucket list will have to come true. I am working towards that, let's see how far I go.
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