WHAT'S IN YOUR BUCKET LIST?

I've accomplished many of the goals and dreams that were squirreled in my bucket list, such as riding in a hot air balloon, but there are many more to fulfill, including a zip line ride in the jungles of Costa Rica.

We all need to remind ourselves of our dreams. If we don't, life will overcome us and we will never complete what we have challenged ourselves to do. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I reached inside the "bucket jar to choose a new adventure. My dreams are written on paper shreds the size of a Chinese fortune. I let them swirl through my finger tips before picking one. Some were tattered. Others bent or folded. I never know from year-to-year which I'll choose. To me, that's half the fun but in all honesty, I recognize (by the feel of the paper), some of the goals I'd written. It's like reading marked cards and my fingers quickly passed by some of the more outrageous dares. I made a mental note to type all of them on the same paper stock so next year I can't cheat.

The inside of the pottery jar where these clips of fantasy are housed has rough nubs where the sides meet the bottom and one piece of paper in particular seemed impaled to the bottom. I picked and pulled until it loosened and then brought it to the surface. The paper was yellow with age. The message was: Grow your hair long enough to donate to someone in need of a wig. Someone struggling with a life-altering illness. It had been in there over twenty years!

I've not had long, long hair since I was in the eighth grade. Could I do it? I really wasn't sure anyone would want it. Ground zero is, at the moment, jaw length and if human hair averages 1/2" per month  . . . I'm making a commitment to my mop of hair for 18 months. I've been blessed with good hair. I'm just not gifted with styling it. A feeling of panic began to creep in. What if I grow it and don't want to cut it? What if it looks hideous on me and vanity forces me to cut it? What if it has too much gray in it and they won't take it? 

But then I asked myself the only question that mattered. What if I do it and it makes a difference in someone else's life? Someone who has struggled with more than the occasional tangle or bad hair day. l don't know if Pantene Beautiful Lengths and the American Cancer Society will accept my hair or not because of the interspersed gray (must be less than 5%). I won't know for a while. Is that going to stop me from trying? No. Am I going to go for it? Yes.

If this seems like something you'd like to do, too, visit www.Pantene.com and follow the prompts for Beautiful Lengths to view the rules. I'd love to have your company along the way. Ask your friends to join us. We'll post a journal on here every 8 weeks to see how we're doing. Send me a picture of your hair now and we'll post updates on our progress. I'm hoping to make a donation by Valentine's Day 2016 but more realistically, it'll be that summer. What do you think??? Are you in?

Jo Ann V. Glim is a seasoned veteran of freelance writing and author of the award winning book, "Begotten With Love."  

FIRST PLACE - Biography - Published

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