As you age, is it time to rethink your bucket list? | members only access

Maria Leonard Olsen wants to visit all the countries in the world. Sixty-seven down … quite a few to go. Olsen, podcaster and author of _50 After 50: Reframing the Next Chapter of Your

Life_, started jotting down her bucket list on her phone’s notes app when she turned 50, daring herself to try 50 new things in that decade. Now, at 61, she’s working on a book with the same

premise: 60 after 60. Olsen says bucket lists shouldn’t be static; if she no longer has the ability or the desire to do something, off the list it goes. “I would add to it and take away

from it as I had new ideas from either talking to people, reading about things, experiencing life in general,” Olsen says. While you’re spring-cleaning your home and garden, you might want

to see whether your bucket list could use a little refreshing too. April 24 is National Bucket List Day, and here are tips from experts on revising your life goals. ACCEPT THAT A CHANGING

BUCKET LIST IS NORMAL Your life is made up of many parts — family, work, learning, to name a few — and likely so is your bucket list. According to a 2021 YouGov survey, most bucket lists

include at least some of the following: travel, personal goals, life milestones, financial goals and daring or adventurous activities. While the categories might remain generally the same,

what fills them up may change as your life changes, says Katharine Esty, who wrote _Eightysomethings: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness_. “I think

what is appropriate at some point, we outgrow. People, as they age, outgrow wanting to do adventures and travel,” says Esty, 89, who lives in a retirement community and says many of her

peers have given up travel. What sounded like a dream five, 10 or 20 years ago may not any longer. The bucket list items should all be about what you want to do at your current point in

life, not attempts to keep up with the Joneses, says Joel Wong, a psychology professor at Indiana University Bloomington.  HAVING TROUBLE DECIDING WHAT SHOULD STAY AND GO? CREATE A PROS/CONS

LIST Every bucket list item comes with a cost, and many times, it’s not just monetary. Be prepared for the issues you may encounter while achieving a goal, says Gary Small, professor and

chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center and behavioral health physician in chief for Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey. He suggests listing the pros and cons next

to each item on your bucket list; adding this will help you decide whether a goal is worth it and, if so, how you want to approach it. “So let’s say you always wanted to take this

extravagant vacation, and you can afford it. That may be great, but maybe it’s going to keep you away from home for six months, and you have grandchildren, and you’re going to miss those six

months’ time enjoying your grandchildren,” Small says. KEEP HEALTH IN MIND Similarly, you might want to consider your health. Do you have ongoing or new conditions that might not fit with

your bucket list item?